Cumberland Arms

Excellent traditional neighborhood pub walking distance to a busy interchange. If you were at the Olympia for a trade show I highly recommend walking half a block to this location. The food is delicious, daily pub menu changes. Great selection of beers ailes and insiders.

I was totally, totally impressed by the Cumberland Arms. I was here on Valentine’s Day, not on purpose, but because traffic got so bad on the way to a movie with a friend that we scrapped the whole idea and began wandering looking for dinner. Using the trusty Unilocal app, this came up, and it was a lovely experience.
As others have alluded, the portions here are a great size. I had a pasta dish that I was only able to eat about half of, and my friend had a similarly large meat and potatoes dish. It was extremely nice food, high quality, not your standard pub grub. They also had a good selection of wines which we were glad to choose a bottle from.
There’s tons of tables, and lots of space for big and small parties. The noise isn’t bad (not rowdy or obnoxious, but a bit more than a standard restaurant), and the atmosphere is warm and welcoming. I could easily see this being a local favorite if I lived in the West Ken area. Very good choice for a high end pub experience.

I used to live 5 minutes from this place so i have been there alot and i have never had a bad experience. The staff have always been friendly and they always have a nice selection of Ales (which is absolutely fundamental to a pub in my opinion). Food is great (if not a little pricey but this is London) and best of all if your a smoker like me, there is a good size outside area.

Embarrassing large sandwich. So came here for a drink at the start of a pub crawl and needed some food. First of all, this place is darling. Nice warm feeling pub. Very large wine list.
I needed a quick bite and went for a sandwich.
It was the biggest sandwich I have ever seen. It was a whoa moment for everyone that saw it. It was half a loaf of focaccia that could have fed a family of 6 (imagine Cheesecake factory size portions in London). But the good thing is that the chicken, guacamole, streaky bacon and greens was delicious. (ok, could have used some melted cheese on it, but that would have just made it decadent.). I left half a loaf on the plate.
Nice pub and a good find for the neighborhood because there isn’t that much around…

Ca-​ca-​ca-​ca-​can
w-​w-​we
s-​s-​sit in th-​th-​th-​the
bbbbb-​bbrrr-​beeeerrrrrrrr garden?
Sure I was shivering, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to take my pint outside to enjoy #1 Cumberland Arms’ truly glorious patio space and #2 the imaginary lingering summer that never existed.
This classy proper pub keeps CAMRA happy with three real ales, and I sampled (um, I mean noticed…) a large selection of lagers and wines as well.
A large space that manages to keep it’s charm, with friendly staff and a better than average menu, I’ve had nothing but lovely experiences each time I manage to stumble this far west.

This is a Gastropub? Really? I couldn’t tell.
Which is how it should be. I’m not going to turn this into another moan about Gastropubs. For me a pub should be a pub and it should primarily be about the drinking. Now people get hungryand so if that pub should happen to serve food. And if that food should happen to be of a very high quality, then that’s greatbut when the food takes over then they should take away the word ‘pub’ too!
Admittedly, I didn’t try the food, but I saw people enjoy it and I may have drooled just a little on the menu. Its haz a British and Mediterranean flavour.
They serve a few ales, which you can drink in the lovely old fashioned interior or one one of the pleasant tables outside among the hanging bushes.

This bar in West Kensignton offers the feel of a traditional pub, while also being quite trendy. Its a great after work drinking hole, but getting there asap is key as a lot of people seem to have the same idea, and it can take quite a while to get served.
The manageress is a little crazy, and extremely friendly, as are the other bar staff. It can get a little confusing though with so many people at the bar, and occasionally I’ve been disappointed with people that came after me being served first.
They do good food too — a little expensive, but very good quality. They have a good range of beers — bitter, draught lager and bottles.

Smiler makes a very good point: this place is round the corner from Olympia, and is the only boozer doing decent food in the area. So if you end up there on a Thursday lunchtime and it’s packed to the rafters with braying idiots in tinted glasses and cheap loafers, don’t blame me. You’ve been warned.
But when you catch the «Sausage», as me and mine affectionately refer to it, on a nice summer afternoon — say around 3pm, which should tell you all you need to know about my bouncing baby booze problem — then it’s one of the nicest places to be in London. It has a nice school chair and dark wood feel to it inside, and they’ve done their best with the greenery outside to take your mind off the neighbouring North End Road.
I also can’t praise the magnificent landlady enough — I hope she’s still there, although it been some time since I stepped in the door. She’s welcoming, friendly, sharp as a tack and will always do her best to find you a table for lunch. The food is great, mixing Mediterranean and North African influences, they have some decent wines, and it’s just a nice friendly spot to read the paper and dawdle over a glass of the nasty. Love it.
Smiler, next time you’re in there, remember me to her. We used to flirt horrendously when I worked round the corner. If you mention the cheeky sod who used to work at Wheel and traded compliments with her on a more or less daily basis, I’m sure she’ll remember.

a real boozer, of the gastro variety that is. decent ambience (excepting the trade show folks packed in when Ken Olympia is in full swing — ref Smiler) and an intriguing, varied menu. a little on the pricey side, and the food can take simply ages to emerge (maybe they rear the pork loin on site and waiting for sufficient maturity?) but mostly worth the wait. i like the wooden floors and big wooden tables too. grab a (real) ale, and wait for that food to arrive…

What is it with corporate name badges? They are so middle management. Wearing one means I am at a conference or networking and not important enough for my liking. I am on the make and probably trying to sell you something. I have a conference stand with too much lighting. How do you do? Shake and fake.
So a quick note to all those shiny black nylon suits that have spent the day at Olympia selling time shares. Please take your damn name badges off in my local. And stop laughing like a pack of deranged otters when your boss cracks a joke. And no, Tracy from accounts isn’t interested (why do we always pick on Tracy from accounts?).
So, apart from this transient corporate mob, this place is really quite special. They have created a gastro fusion menu that starts in Marrakesh and ends near Sicily. Lamb shank and cous cous with yogurt or a tagine will not set you back more than £12.
Meanwhile the ambience is still that of a genuine local (because it is a local) with board games and ruffled newspapers at hand.
The hospitality is homely thanks to the Irish landlady who will shuffle chairs and tables around to squeeze everyone in.
If you want to avoid the name badges head for a Sunday afternoon and merlot the week end away, blissfully in denial of Monday corporate blues.