Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 2 and Version 1 of Duchess Belle, SW8 4DS

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<div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Ewan]] and Jo, 9 April 2008. Prices verified at that visit.</div>
<div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Ewan]] and Jo, 9 April 2008. Prices verified at that visit.
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Refurbished pub near Battersea Park Station, across the road from the power station.

For another old boozer to be given a refit is fairly common where gentrification is setting in. You wouldn't necessarily pick this part of Battersea for that, where the power station has gone to ruins for so very long and where residential housing starts giving way to mail offices and industrial estates, but there are plans for the power station and there's new middle-class settlement in the area, so the old Duchess of Kent has been made over.

Although these kinds of enterprises tend towards blandness, the Duchess manages to get it right. The bar is the centre of the room, with seating around it, some long tables, some couches, and a small DJ area (where on Ewan's visit in April 2008, the order of the day was 90s downtempo chill-out - Morcheeba, Paul Weller and the like - played at some volume but not too loudly).

Out the back is a large beer garden with potted plants and generally well-kept, including some cover should it rain.

The real disappointment is the dull range of Greene King ales on the three pumps -- IPA and Abbot Ale were on, Chariot was off. Otherwise, they have decent lagers (Hoegaarden and the usual suspects) and have a decent wine list ranging from £12.50-40 for a bottle, and with large glasses at £4-6. My grenache shiraz was excellent, poured into a large glass (but not comedically large, as you get at some places).

There are bar snacks available such as fries with cheese (£2.50), cheesy garlic bread (£2.50, and quite tasty), nachos and the like. My wedges with hummous on the side (£4) were good individually, though I remain unconvinced by the combination of potato and hummous.

There is a quiz night on Tuesday, and they do open mic live nights (check the pub's Myspace page for details) and jazz on Sunday.

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Last visited by Ewan and Jo, 9 April 2008. Prices verified at that visit.


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