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Picture of The Albion
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Submitted on Monday, 16th October 2017
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The Albion, Kingston Upon Thames

45 Fairfield Road
Kingston Upon Thames
KT1 2PY
Correct details

Reviews of The Albion (Average Rating: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Albion

I still find the Albion to be one of the better Big Smoke outlets, not too far behind the Sussex Arms in Twickenham and the Antelope in Surbiton. Having not been here since 2017, I wasn't sure what the ale and cider range would be like, but I wasn't disappointed. However, as Quinno quite rightly states, you can easily get a bad pint here and I duly did later in the evening.

The full real ale range was Big Smoke Ceremony, Solaris, Cosmic Dawn & Standing Stone, Brew York Viking DNA, Ampersand The Cap Bitter, Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout, Oakham IPA & another beer from Kent Brewery which I failed to note. Ciders were Gwynt y Ddraig Dog Dancer, Big Smoke/Hogan's Country Mile, Lilley's Mango Cider & Ascension Mothership.

Both the Country Mile & the Viking DNA were in fine condition. Having only had halves of those, I decided to have a pint of the 2.5% Standing Stone, with a pint of any Big Smoke beer included in the Tuesday hot dog special. I soon regretted this choice, as the beer was right at the end of the cask. Luckily for me, the barman was very apologetic and let me replace it with a pint of the 6% Ascension Mothership cider, which was a huge improvement in strength and quality.

The pub itself has an L-shaped room. The front of the pub is fairly dark in nature, whilst it seems to become a bit better lit towards the rear right-hand side. Toilets are midway along the right-hand wall. After initially sitting opposite the gents, we soon decided that the smell was off-putting and moved to the far corner to a table overlooking a large outdoor seating area with patio heaters.

Despite the questionable beer quality at times, I still rate this as easily the best pub in Kingston, with a good range of ales and ciders and I haven't mentioned the extensive craft beer range. With bar staff happy to exchange any dodgy pints and taking them off sale, I'm still prepared to give the Albion the benefit of the doubt and a big thumbs up.

On 17th March 2023 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2442 recommendations about 2441 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Quinno _ left this review about The Albion

Try-hard Big Smoke outlet. Fairly bland L shaped interior with a load of old pump clips stuck to the ceiling. Nine cask on, ‘four too many’ I mused to my companion and indeed bar the Harveys none of the others were shifting – we both (stupidly) went for the Big Smoke Stout and inevitably pint #1 was warm and flabby whilst pint #2 was better. A number of Big Smoke pubs I’ve been to have given me indifferent cask quality and this was another one…all fur coat and no knickers.

On 18th March 2022 - rating: 6
[User has posted 5043 recommendations about 5026 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Bucking Fastard left this review about The Albion

A street corner pub which has an attractive exterior,in an upmarket colour scheme and Big Smoke Brewery lettering.The interior has been largely stripped out,with a long bar opposite the entrance,a dark wooden floor and solid wooden furniture with a tea light at every table.This decor extends to the right side leading to a beer garden ,but carpeted in artificial grass.The very hot weather had resulted in flying ants taking up residence in said artificial grass so we gave up sitting on the pic nic benches.
The interior has the feel of a gastro pub,although the food is quite regular pub grub and the real star should be the fantastic range of real ale and craft keg.However the hot weather led to less than satisfactory pints of Thornbridge Jaywick and Roosters Yankee.
There were 5 real ciders with always three ales from Big Smoke,with a further 7 guests which included Howling Hops Pale,Siren Breakfast Oatmeal Stout and something else from Thornbridge.There is also a vast array of 20 keg taps.
I was disappointed by my ale condition ,but the weather has been extreme and I would give it another go to get a better feel of this pub on the ale front.

On 14th July 2018 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]


View more reviews of The Albion (14)
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Pub location see interactive map of local area
Map location corrected by Rex Rattus
Kingston, 0.37 miles, 7 min walk (show)
Norbiton, 0.82 miles, 15 min walk (show)
Hampton Wick, 0.92 miles, 17 min walk (show)
Latest updates View all updates for The Albion, Kingston Upon Thames
17th Mar 2023, 18:06
Review submitted by Blue Scrumpy
 
18th Mar 2022, 15:32
Review submitted by Quinno _

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 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Bar Billiards : No last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Beer Festivals : No last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Beer Garden : Yes last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • CAMRA Discount : Yes - 10% - last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Car Park : No last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Child Friendly : Yes last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Darts : No last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Function Room : Yes last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Hot Food : Yes last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Jukebox : No last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Karaoke : No last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Live Music : No last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Live TV Sports : No last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Micropub : No last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Pinball : No last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Pool Table : No last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Real Ale : Yes last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • Real Cider : Yes last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
  • WiFi : Yes last updated 18 March 2022 by Quinno _
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