Victoria W2

London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Central London: Paddington and Marylebone

Victoria, London W2. Pic: Fuller's.

Traditional pub (Fuller’s) National Heritage Pub
10a Strathearn Place W2 2NH
T (020) 7724 1191 W www.fullers.co.uk
Open 1100 (1200 Sun)-2300 (2230 Sun). Children welcome.
Cask beers 5 (Fuller’s) Cask marque, Other beers 2 keg, 7  bottles, Also 20 wines.
Food Upmarket pub grub/gastro, Outdoor A few tables on street, Wifi.
Tue quiz, occasional live music, occasional big screen sport, annual beer festival.

Occupying an unusually rotund corner building deep in elegant Bayswater, only a short step from Hyde Park, the Victoria is a lively and welcoming place that retains the feel of a characterful local while also boasting one of the most interesting heritage pub interiors in London. Most historic survivals among the capital’s pub stock were heavily refurbished in late Victorian times — the 1890s and early 1900s. In contrast, much of what you see in the Victoria — the handsome wooden bar with its elegant mirrored bar back, a regency-style fireplace, an extraordinary side wall with tiling and decorated and gilded mirrors — dates from much earlier in the eponymous queen’s reign, quite likely from 1864, the date shown on the clock that still commands the angle of the bar. There are more recent additions — the two upstairs rooms include the charming library, well worth grabbing if you can, and the Theatre Bar decked out with fittings reclaimed from the Gaeity Theatre in the late 1950s. The pub plays up to its name with numerous portraits of the unamused monarch and her family, and there’s now a single J-shaped drinking area which formerly would have been partitioned.

This is now a Fuller’s pub, and a very good one. Five cask beers always include Chiswick, Discovery, ESB, London Pride and a seasonal or special in top form. Honeydew and Blue Moon are on keg, while among the bottles are such Fuller’s treasures as Vintage Ale, Brewers Reserve and 1845 as well as Duvel and Budvar. Food might include poached haddock, chorizo stuffed chicken breast, sausage and mash, roast butternut squash and gourmet sandwiches, at slightly high prices as you’d expect in this area. Staff on my visit were remarkably friendly, cheerful and well-informed, helping bring this vintage treasure to vibrant life.

Insider tip. It’s worth ordering a whisky and water purely for the privilege of having your tipple diluted by a still functioning Victorian brass tap.

National Rail Paddington Underground Lancaster Gate Cycling LCN+ links to 0  5 45 and Hyde Park paths Walking Link to Jubilee Greenway