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The Magpie & Crown, Brentford
Brentford
TW8 8EW
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Magpie & Crown
Having enjoyed a decent session in the Express Tavern, it was probably a mistake to continue onto the Magpie & Crown.
We arrived to find the landlord scurrying around with a full face visor. He was allocating tables to all arrivals, taking orders and delivering all drinks. It seemed the new norm to allocate tables outside at the front of the pub, overlooking the busy High Street. I think we were given the last one.
Just 3 similar ales were on - Sambrook's Wandle & Lavender Hill & Southwark London Pale. There was no real cider. I'm not sure if this was simply because it was the first day of opening, or whether this will become a permanent trend.
The pub was pretty much as I remember it, with a single room and a central bar. Toilets were much cleaner than I remember them. But with the ale selection being fairly limited, there are at least 2 other pubs in Brentford/Kew Bridge that would be a better destination than the Magpie & Crown, as things stand.
On 4th August 2020
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Magpie & Crown
A traditional pub with a central bar facing you as you enter. The left hand side room is carpeted and has a pool table at the rear. The right hand side room was floor boarded and hosted a large plasma screen on the side wall. Each room had a wall mounted old gas fire, which were both lit on our visit. A very unusual feature I haven't seen for many years.
A decent varied selection of six ales on handpump on our visit, four craft ales on keg and two ciders. We went for the Ossett Spellbound, the pub also had a good atmosphere and a good choice of music playing, which was a mixture of 70's , 80's and some rock.
On 3rd November 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Magpie & Crown
A proper ale enthusiasts pub this one, eight pumps ,six ales in the form of ABC Valknut,Binghams Total Eclipse, Arbour Oz Bomb, Burning Sky Plateau,Isle Of Purbeck Best Bitter and Butcombe Bitter, a Cider and perry both produced by Severn, also available were some craft keg from the likes of Marble and Oakham,but at a price. A must visit pub I would say.
On 19th June 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about The Magpie & Crown
Warm and friendly real ale pub.It has been famous for a good selection of micro brewed beer for a lot of years.6 handpumps and 2 ciders uusually on.Good selection of unusual bottled beers.A must visit.
On 15th February 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Paul Brett left this review about The Magpie & Crown
What a great pub! A good choice of unusual beers on. I tried the Grandstand from Twickenham which was first class plus the Chocolate Orange from Downton which was also very good but a bit strong and sweet. Also one the most reasonable places around with a mouth watering specials board which was hard to resist. A must visit for anyone in the area
On 19th May 2012
- rating: 9
[User has posted 67 recommendations about 66 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Magpie & Crown
This mock Tudor fronted pub sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the charity shops and fried chicken take-aways of Brentford's drab High Street. Inside we find a traditional interior with plenty of dark wood, exposed beams and a nice carpet, which give the place a homely and welcoming feel. The layout is fairly open, but there are enough little nooks to make it feel fairly intimate depending on where you choose to sit. Banquettes line the front wall to the right of the front door and a sofa can be found in one of the rear corners, but otherwise the seating is of the standard pub variety. The area at the back of the pub houses a pool table and I noticed a couple of games machines as well. There is a nice looking fireplace, sadly not lit on my visit, and perhaps the centrepiece of the pub is a rowing boat which is suspended from the ceiling (a paddle can also be spotted on a ledge nearby).
Four beers and one cider were on offer when I popped in prior to the football on a recent Tuesday night. Oakham JHB (£3.10), Twickenham Grandstand, Ascot Stout and Marble Manchester made up the choice before me, but sadly the Marble went before I had the chance to sample it, so I tried the JHB and Grandstand, the latter of which appears to be a regular fixture, and found both to be well kept. The barman was sympathetic when the Marble went and turned the clip straight away. A blackboard on the right hand wall listed the beer choice as well as those that would be on next.
I expected to the pub to be packed before the match, but it was fairly quiet and we managed to get a seat without any problems. There was a real sense of community in the place which made me feel like this would be a pub I'd happily spend a good long time in.
On 16th November 2010
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Magpie & Crown
A basic looking High Street boozer with an open plan interior,a pool table to the left and electric fires keeping the punters warm.Four handpumps dispensing Hogs Back TEA,Itchen Valley Winchester ,Slaters Craic and Twickenham Brewery Grandstand on my visit and the ale quality was spot on.Relaxed atmosphere in which to get supping and with an ever changing selection of ales,this is a must visit in Brentford,close to the canal locks and basin.
Update October 2010.
After seeing this pub deleted from the 2011 GBG went in to find out the rationale.There was a change of landlord.However the new regime is even better than the old,the interior has been cleaned up,fresh lick of paint,upholstery mended etc.The Mancunian guv'nor is a friend of the brewer of Marble beers and he drives up to personally collect barrels of this excellent ale .On our trip he had their W90 brew on ,about the best sub 4% ale I've ever supped,so good that his other three handpumped ales didnt get a look in.There is no guarentee that there will be a Marble beer on,but its well worth taking the risk and his other ales are usually top drawer anyway .An absolute must visit.
On 25th October 2010
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Thuck Phat left this review about The Magpie & Crown
To walk into any boozer and find a Marble beer on makes the heart sing and the tastebuds tingle in anticipation of a great pint or two. To do so entirely unexpectedly and this far from Manchester adds surprise and delight.
The Magpie and Crown is a reliable town centre boozer which has recently had a much needed and sensible spruce up without losing the atmosphere. It's a one roomed affair which wraps around the central bar and is, now cleanly, carpeted with red velour benches around the walls and an assortment of wooden tables. To the right of the bar there's a large television which had the footy on when we visited but wasn't intrusive if you weren't interested. There is also a wooden boat hanging above the bar.
Clientele are a mixed bunch of, predominantly real ale, drinkers who were friendly, chatty and informative on local matters as well as being thoroughly appreciative of the ale offered.
Beers were Marble W90, Moorhouse's Black Cat, Twickenham Grandstand Bitter and Hog's Back TEA. A good selection of, mainly locally brewed, styles but erring on the weaker side. As mentioned by Mr Fastard, the landlord personally collects the Marble beers and seems to offer whatever is available at the time. Pump clips behind the bar included Lagonda IPA, Chocolate etc so there's been a fair amount of choice recently and the landord suggested that there was more to come with Manchester and Ginger possibly. Although a word of warning, it appears that demand is outstripping supply for Marble beers (no shock there) and that they're not easy to get hold of so no guarantee that the Magpie'll have one on in the future. That said, the W90 was excellent and, as with all Marble beers, bounced out of the glass despite the low strength.
A friendly boozer with a clear comittment to providing an interesting range of beers. This is probably Marble's southernmost outlet and that alone makes it a must visit.
On 15th October 2010
- rating: 10
[User has posted 679 recommendations about 678 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Magpie & Crown
Curious mock-Tudor exterior and rather sparse decoration inside too. In fact, it could all have seemed a bit gloomy if it weren't for the mix of customers giving the place a lively atmosphere (with the chap behind the bar being friendly too). Four real ales on, including two from the local Twickenham Fine Ales, O'Hanlons Firefly Bitter plus a splendid stout called ZigZag from the Milk Street Brewey in Frome which was just the job on a snowy winter day (with the next beer on being the excellent Port Stout from the aforementionded O'Hanlons). The chalk board now records that the total number of real ales sold since since 1996 is 2310, which certainly sounds like an achievement. (Regarding the previous two posts, it certainly didn't look like it was going to close in a couple of days time - I certainly hope not, and this is just the sort of proper pub that beer lovers should value.)
On 10th January 2010
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Magpie & Crown
The governor here spends a lot of time caring for the great range of beers that he gets in and he begrudges anyone that stumbles in that is unknowledgeable – which I think is a little unprofessional, but it is his pub and he calls the shots.
There is a bar billiards table at the rear which is a rarity in these parts and there is also a TV, but no Sky Sports as this is an Ale drinker’s pub.
Great time if you don't order the Fosters!
On 5th September 2009
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5233 recommendations about 5201 pubs]