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Disappointment of the week with Mobyduck
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Tris C
Submitted on Saturday, 16th March 2013
With picture contributions to 2293 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (2 more images)
Requested be closed with reason - For sale: Closed with new tenant being sought.
Detail Pages
Chelsea Funhouse, SW10
SW10
SW10 0LR
Served areas
Reviews of Chelsea Funhouse (Average Rating: 3½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about Chelsea Funhouse
The pub’s history is well documented on CAMRA’s website and with a change of name, comes a dramatic alteration to the interior.
The place is located in a less than accessible part of Chelsea and not the nicest part either. This would once have been something of a gin palace and is one of the most famous watering holes in the former Borough of Chelsea, prior to renaming in 1965.
With Front of House employed, the interior is now multithemed, with a different bar on each floor. For example, one floor is home to the Bletchley bar, themed around wartime Britain, where cocktails are ordered using Enigma machines. Perhaps canapes are provided, fashioned from Spam and dried egg? The bar in which I was seated on the ground floor looked like a strip bar from an Eddie Murphy film, circa 1985 (see photo and website); you couldn’t make it up. What few customers were in, amounted to an old boy at the bar (perhaps the wrong bar) and a couple of studenty types.
There’s no real ale of course (perhaps Burton in the Bletchley bar), with a three-fount chrome joystick. A request for ‘a lager’ elicited a half of something which I found out to be locally brewed SlyBeast Lager (Larger on the receipt), a 4.3% wheat beer which set me back an utterly unimaginable £5.63, 63p being the service charge.
This isn’t my sort of place and I’m not their sort of customer, so never the twain shall meet.
On 8th December 2021
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1984 recommendations about 1950 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Worlds End Market
An imposing and impressive looking building which still displays the earlier name of The World's End Distillery on the façade. Inside it is less pleasing with not many original features to see although there is some nice green banded white tiling and a little bit of etched glass. One L-shaped room now with quite a small bar in the corner, no handpumps, five copper fonts serve Whitstable Bay branded beers which may have been cask but possibly were not, it was very cold but without excessive carbonation. I couldn't see much point in checking with the pair of waist-coated continental barmen. My Pale Ale rocked in at £4.84. Welcome to Chelsea.
Food is the real raison d'etre here, at the far end of the room is a first for me, two counters serving wet fish and raw meat. I suspect this is a pick your choice and they cook it for you rather than the pub doubling as a shop but I cannot be 100%.
Most tables were set for formal dining but at around 4pm there were no takers, a quartet of customers were drinking on bar stools. I plonked myself at a small set table, nobody said anything.
Exposed services below the ceiling, dark boarded floor with a chequer tiled zone around the bar, galvanised pots containing fuchsias on the tables, there is a large mural of a butcher and a fishmonger on the bar back.
A bit of outdoor seating facing a paved square is probably a nice spot to while away an hour but anywhere that serves cold beer at £4.84 a pint and gives change with a receipt on a little silver tray isn't going to find me returning.
On 14th April 2016
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Worlds End Market
Built in 1897, this beautiful pub and former horse bus terminus is such a local landmark that the surrounding housing estate is accordingly known as 'Worlds End'. Set on the Kings Road, the pub has a rich history which includes hosting early Rolling Stones gigs and having a nearby Vivienne Westwood shop named after it. Unfortunately the place hasn't operated as a proper boozer for some time now and is currently more of a restaurant, with only a minor concession to those just wanting a drink. Despite the striking exterior, there is remarkably little of interest left within. You enter into a single bare boarded room with an unusual, three quarter circle bar to the rear right. The counter appears to be pewter and there is a modern wood strip bar back of little visual appeal. The seating in the main bulk of the room comprises standard chairs and a banquette under the front windows, all of which were taken up by diners on our arrival. To the right is a long curved banquette supplemented by more standard chairs, and it was along this wall, or on a stool at the bar, that drinkers were seemingly encouraged to settle down. At the far end of the room there is an open kitchen under a shelf displaying various pots, pans and the like, plus a deli counter where you can buy fresh ingredients including meat and fish. The only features I could find of any interest were a few surviving etched glass windows to the rear of the room and some nice ironwork around the entrances. We stopped here for some food and whilst it was good quality, the prices were pretty prohibitive. As the room started to clear out after a busy lunch service, loud dance music was piped into the room, which just about finished off any good will I had remaining.
Much of this had been wiped out within seconds of arrival when the barman explained that I couldn't have a pint of Doom Bar, or indeed any draught product on display including numerous mainstream keg offerings, due to some sort of fault with the pipes. Instead I had to settle for an overpriced bottle of Meantime Wheat which I had to slowly sup throughout my meal as I refused to buy another drink in a pub that can't provide customers with draught beer.
This was a massive disappointment, although to be fair we deliberately chose the place for food and this it at least managed to get right. It's a shame to see a grand building like this, with such a rich history holding so many memories for people, end up in such a state but the customers visiting on this particular Sunday afternoon seemed to be enjoying themselves and I suppose this sort of business is always going to do a better trade in this neighbourhood nowadays than a traditional boozer. A real shame and one to steer clear from unless you want food with bottled beer.
On 27th November 2015
- rating: 3
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
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- Facebook page of Chelsea Funhouse - www.facebook.com
- CAMRA WhatPub :: Chelsea Funhouse - whatpub.com
West Brompton, 1.03 miles, 19 min walk (show)
Clapham Junction, 1.77 miles, 34 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Beer Garden : Yes - Side patio. - last updated 08 December 2021 by Tris C
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 08 December 2023 by ROB Camra
- Car Park : No last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Child Friendly : No last updated 08 December 2021 by Tris C
- Darts : No last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Dog Friendly : No last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Function Room : No last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Jukebox : No last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Karaoke : No last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Live Music : No last updated 08 December 2021 by Tris C
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Micropub : No last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Pinball : No last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Pool Table : No last updated 27 November 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Quiz Night : No last updated 08 December 2021 by Tris C
- Real Ale : No last updated 08 December 2023 by ROB Camra
- Real Cider : No last updated 08 December 2023 by ROB Camra
- Wheelchair Access : Yes - Disabled WC. - last updated 08 December 2021 by Tris C
- WiFi : Yes last updated 08 December 2021 by Tris C
