Waterloo pubs

Lively atmosphere, tainted by ludicrously misleading street signs. After darkness, the beer garden looks like just another inside. One can only imagine the urine from the outside toilets splashing against the well-heeled sandals. A better mix of punters than this review would initially suggest ensure an extremely lively atmosphere within the dark wooden surroundings. Well worth a visit, but only if you're in the area. From the outside, this appears to be a carbuncle stuck on a carbuncle, a hideous pile of blandness that is almost chic. However, from the inside, this is a palace of all things pub-like. We sit next to a Coronation St quiz machine screaming Our Jack, it's a 40 top prize!. Lurid terracotta and faux William Morris wallpaper cover the walls, the psychedelic carpet bursts forth sickeningly, this is an unexpected delight of a pub, with a long curving bar, delightful bar staff and a splendid clientele. Major sports shown here Resolutely and grimly 60s with a surreal and stomach-churning choice in decor and a view of the churning traffic outside. This is perhaps endurable for one pint, but its only redeeming feature is that it is a pub. Sky Sports and open 7 days a week There really is no better street in London. Hemmed in at one end by a railway line and a tower block, and at the other by a cluster of mid-rise offices, walking down the weirdly named Roupell Street feels like taking a trip into a parallel, Hollywood-fantasy Victorian world. It is so classically, quintessentially London that it's almost a cliche: a long, low row of dirty-bricked terraced houses eyeball-to-eyeball across a narrow road, iron-wrought street lamps dotting an uneven pavement. The commuters hurrying to waterloo station seem anachronistic, and I instead expect to see Dickensian characters, tramps and sweeps and top-hatted gents strolling the streets instead. It's a wonderful place for a pub, and fittingly enough, the King's Arms is a wonderful pub for the place. Boasting two separate bars (one narrow, but with a TV, and the other more expansive, with views along the street) and further room out back for food and functions, there's always a lively crowd of locals and workers alike. Kitted out in the traditional wood panelling, old photos and array of different-sized tables, it acts out the part expected of it by the rest of the street. It's usually possible to find a seat in one bar or the other in order to sit back and enjoy the atmosphere. Everything is so film-set unreal that I'm still expecting a soot-blackened Dick van Dyke to pop in one day, unleash a barrage of fake Cockney at me, do a little jig and then open his umbrella and fly off over the rooftops. This modern-looking Youngs pub is conveniently located behind Gabriel's Wharf and is only a short walk from the Thames. We visited the pub after the Lord Mayors Show fireworks display and the bar area was transformed from totally empty to completely full in just five minutes. Sadly, Youngs Winter Warmer ale was not on offer so I had to settle for the bitter instead. The decor is rather suspect photographs from a bygone age and odd "ye olde pub" paraphernalia covering the walls. There is also a distinctly un-pub-like conservatory at the back. To sum up it was comfy, served good beer, but was totally fake. Just down the road from the Old Vic theatre. Wood, low lighting, a few candles, blinds. Decent pub with acceptable choice of beers and okay food. Slightly ruined by the presence of the Chelsea Bore droning on about his wonderful club at the bar. Gets rather crowded during football matches. Pubs at stations are always strange places with an odd mix of transient clientele. We have middle-aged business men having one more drink before they eventually can delay their journey home no more. Then there are travellers having a quick drink before they set off on an exciting expedition to erm, Guildford or Woking. Coopers has all this and the effect is magnified by its location underground. With no windows, the smell of stale beer and cigarette smoke can't escape its cavernous depths and the only thing to look at is the other customers, not a pretty sight. I can't really remember much more about my visit but I vaguely recall the beer was pretty expensive, another common feature of station pubs. I won't be returning.

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