The Princess Royal, Brentford

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.

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.

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.

Official site of Princess Royal - www.princessroyalbrentford.co.uk

Official site of Princess Royal - www.princessroyalbrentford.co.uk