West Kensingon pubs

This pub amply demonstrates the difficulties some landlords face. Presented with a beaten-up shell of an old man's local, the new owners decided they wanted to spruce up the image to attract new custom, but not in such a way that would alienate the old regulars. It's an admirable attitude that's fraught with difficulties. The result in this case looks a bit like a newsagent's from the outside and a trendy Clapham bar inside, and probably doesn't please anyone much. The new trade hasn't really arrived and the locals don't have that much money to spend, which in anyone's books is a problematic equation. Just down the road, another pub has gone all gastro, driving out the regular custom completely but making a roaring success from the young West London trendies with money to burn and all the sophistication of a Pringles advert. Which maybe goes to show that good business, a social conscience and decent taste are three disperate elements that can rarely be reconciled. The night I visited, however, the Live and Let Live was stuffed to the gullets in order to celebrate 1 year under the new owners. People belted out karaoke as others danced like maniacs, wobbling their bellies, dropping their trousers and falling out of their tops. Psycho Chelsea fans massacred 'Wonderwall' repeatedly, a pissed Mackem wouldn't leave my girlfriend alone and, er, good fun was had by all. I think. No hand-pulled beers, meaning that the IPA had that nasty gassy taste that blights all smoothflow stuff, but at least there was a wide range of drinks. TV and outside tables are to its credit, although the view across to the other side of the road isn't much to write home about. Let's just hope the locals keep on coming in the numbers they did that night...

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