Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Princess Royal, Brentford
Brentford
TW8 0LF
Pub Type
Fuller'sReviews (Current Rating Average: 4½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Princess Royal
Not a bad looking pub from the outside, but inside it’s more like an atmosphere free social club and my visit was not helped by the fact that it was empty for my mid afternoon visit, except for a couple of the friends of the Landlady, one of which had a fag on the go when I entered.
But what really made this forgettable for me was that although the Pride and ESB real ale pumps were in operation for my visit I soon wished they hadn’t been. Firstly my half of London Pride was served in a Peroni glass but secondly it was truly awful and the worst ale I’ve had in a long while.
You have to fear for this one when Brentford F.C. move out and if it does have any redeeming features, they were lost on me.
On 27th December 2019
- rating: 3
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Princess Royal
Looks more attractive from the street than it does inside the partly opened-out layout. This features a couple rooms around the gantried central servery, more seating (some slightly raised) and the dartboard at the front together with more regimented rows of tables and a pool table in the back part. Has some remaining decorative glass in the windows but it otherwise looks quite plain apart from a selection of football memorabilia. Disappointingly, the Pride and ESB clips on the three handpumps proved to be a mirage, so it had to be a pint of the keg Frontier (£4.00) before moving on to the next Griffin Park corner.
On 6th July 2019
- rating: 5
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Princess Royal
There were three handpumps on the counter here - all clipped for London Pride (£2 a half, making it the most expensive pub we visited in Brentford). My companions and I were unimpressed by the ale choice and the price, especially as the quality was average at best. The was no sign of food on Wednesday afternoon.
There was a pool table at one end, and a dartboard at the other, plus I also spotted a pull-down TV screen. It's obviously been opened up and I didn't see anything of interest inside, although the red-banded glazing with rose tinted mullions was an attractive feature. There were a couple of sofas on a small raised area by the window, but generally furnishings are normal tables and chairs. This is another ordinary pub with nothing very special about it. I'm not likely to return.
On 13th March 2016
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about Princess Royal
Another of the four street corner pubs surrounding Brentford FC, The Princess Royal is a largish long single room with something of a social club feel and atmosphere to it.
Outside, a blackboard tells us that the pub offers a “different real ale each week – this week, London Pride”, which I presume is an attempt at humour given that it’s badged as a Fullers pub.
The tiled exterior has 2 entrances, reflecting the fact that it was probably a two bar pub in earlier days. There’s several unusual looking etched windows depicting fishes and country scenes.
On the roof of the pub, a large board shows forthcoming Brentford fixtures and I gather that Brentford have a financial stake in the pub.
It’s a reasonably comfortable, carpeted, if rather featureless and spartan room. At one end is a snooker table. The walls here are decorated with a number of photos and framed football shirts of Brentford F C, although, somewhat oddly, right in the middle of these is a photograph featuring the former QPR player, Stan Bowles. At the other end of the room, on a slightly raised area, are a couple of sofas by the window. Here there’s a number of old photos of Brentford, including one showing the former Royal Brewery in the 1920’s, close to what is now the Watermans Centre.
In the middle of the room is the wooden bar counter, retaining its gantry and some glazed leaded glass.
What was really noticeable about my recent Sunday lunchtime visit was the customer mix – ranging from silver haired grannies enjoying the cheap OAP Sunday roast lunches to dodgy looking geezers in Chelsea shirts and a couple of Vicky Pollard types with babes in arms. Notably, all seemed to be co-existing side by side in what is clearly a community focused local.
The only real ale on was London Pride - £ 3.10p ( noticeably cheaper than at The Griffin ) – and it tasted pretty good. There’s only 2 handpumps, so don’t expect a lot of choice.
I didn’t really find much to dislike about this pub, but it’s not one of Brentford’s better pubs and there’s better alternatives close by.
On 30th June 2011
- rating: 5
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about Princess Royal
I got a bit of a social club feel from the Princess Royal this lunchtime. There is a stage at the front of the pub with the bar in the middle and a seating area at the back. The staff were friendly and the only other people in were 2 old boys who seemed very happy chatting away about how hard life is. I paid £3 for a pint of lager and the only sign of any ale I could see was 2 pride pumps on the bar.
This isn’t the worst pub in the area, but there are better.
On 23rd April 2008
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5228 recommendations about 5196 pubs]