Paddington boasts more than its fair share of great pubs to enjoy food and drinks during your stay in London, and it’s arguably the best place in London for pubs.
This local of 40 years Charles Wheeldon suggests some of the best watering holes to drop into.
All of Paddington’s best pubs are just a few minutes’ walk from the hotels in the areas and I’d like to tell you a bit about the ones that I’ve grown to love after many years living in my home village, Paddington.
The Fountain’s Abbey run by my old pal Roy is a spacious pub on Praed Street opposite St Mary’s Hospital where Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. Its staff are really friendly and attentive and the pub has several screens showing the day’s live sports events, particularly football. You only have to cross the street to visit the Fleming museum to find out all about the Nobel prize-winning discovery of the antibiotic.
The Monkey Puzzle on Sussex Gardens is a locals’ pub where you are guaranteed a warm welcome from Gary and his long-time staff. This is a great place to enjoy a drink in the outdoor garden area with its benches and chairs under a canope next to its famous monkey puzzle tree. Go to the end of the bar and you’ll find a very large map of seventeenth century London where the original streets and villages of the old city are all detailed.
The Victoria is a genuine Victorian gem with a cosy atmosphere, original bar and glasswork, and the walls festooned with royal memorabilia, particularly of Queen Victoria and her extensive family. The local clientele here are a quirky bunch who gather round the bar for a chat – or you can sit outdoors on the benches to enjoy watching the world going by.
The Sussex Arms on London Street is a contrast to most of the pubs in the area. Owner Paul has transformed it with an airplane-themed interior featuring some of the seating from an original Concorde supersonic jet. Manager Maxine and her staff are great fun and many of the locals are working blokes from the north who enjoy a drink after work and will start chatting to you if you look like you’ve no one to talk to. Its jukebox features just about every song known to mankind and it’s not unknown for the everyone in the place to burst out in song when things get going! It’s drinks and bar snacks only though, as The Sussex doesn’t serve hot food – but you can fetch your own from the fish and chip shop or café next door so long as you order a drink from the pub.
The Sawyers Arms, also on London Street, is a higgledy-piggledy sort of a place popular with commuters on their way home as it’s close to the railway station. Fans attending the day’s sporting events will often congregate here for a pre- or post-match drink or two.
The Pride of Paddington is a gastropub serving food and drinks all day popular with visitors and tourists and serving American portions. Jason, Jackson and the staff are a jolly and diverse team always offering a warm welcome. The Pride has a hostel on the upper floors so there’s often a crowd of European backpackers livening up the place.
The Swan is situated on busy Bayswater Road opposite Hyde Park with plenty of outdoor seating for experiencing the hustle and bustle of one of London’s main thoroughfares. It also features some pretty decent live music at the weekend. Though the building has a history extending several centuries, be sceptical of its claim to be the ‘one for the road’ pub that prisoners used before getting back ‘on the wagon’ to be carted off for hanging at infamous Old Tyburn just down the road. The jail was in the opposite direction!
The Mitre on Craven Terrace is yet another Victorian gem with its original features and glasswork situated in a quiet back street next to a cobblestone mews. Not much has changed here in a hundred and fifty years. This is another pub frequented by Paddington’s friendly locals with outdoor seating and plenty of dining space indoors. It’s now quite a gastropub with its Lord Craven’s dining room upstairs where you can enjoy a meal from its impressive menu. And local legend claims the pub’s Old Mary’s basement cocktail bar is haunted by the lady herself.
This is just a small taste of the many boozers Paddington has to offer our visitors from all over the world – try them out and let us know below about your experiences…
