Two pubs in Hammersmith

In a shopping centre and next to the water

I think I’ve probably been slightly unfair about west London, in my time. I’ve never lived there, being based in south London since I moved here in 2009. Central London is work and going out, there’s fun and exciting things in east, and leafy parks and nice architecture in north. What does west have to offer?

Well let me tell you, it’s got the Hammersmith Flyover.

I’m aware this probably sounds slightly facetious but I love a good flyover. Have you ever seen the Croydon Flyover, a vast bit of business that makes up three quarters of an unfinished and therefore useless ring road?

I have. I love it.

I don’t have to live next to it, of course, but I adore the hulking design of that edifice. Even better, there’s a pub adjacent to it - The Royal Standard, which I ticked off in my quest to visit every Greater London pub in the Good Beer Guide a few years ago - and that pub’s garden is under the flyover itself. For me, that’s an urban paradise.

I didn’t go to Hammersmith the other month just to gawp at an elevated overpass, mind you. I had tickets to see David Byrne at the Apollo, and time to kill beforehand, which meant a tick could be on the cards (and maybe more).

Craft Beer Co, Hammersmith (206/293) is unusual in that it’s within a shopping centre. I don’t mind that, though I think we can probably agree we’re looking at a bar rather than a pub here. It’s clearly a good staging post for anyone going to a gig at the Apollo and I saw a good few Talking Heads-heads already in situ.

Something told me I’d been here before, but that might have been a different craft beer place in Hammersmith. There was something of a boom in the 2010s, you may recall. This place was refitted seven years ago and looks very swish now - I thought the hexagonal mirror tiles you’ve seen at the top of this post were very fetching.

Mark’s hot blog take: not sure you should describe things as “swish” or “fetching”.

Really good hits on the stereo, as you might hope but not always expect from a venue catering to a pre-gig crowd. Bizarre Love Triangle! Siouxsie & The Banshees! And then they played The Calling and the whole house of cards fell down.

I remember going to a lot of Craft Beer Co. venues in the early years of living in London, and they definitely served a purpose - a range of interesting beers, German lagers, stuff you couldn’t get anywhere else. See also the superb Cask in Pimlico.

I think a lot of places have upped their game in the years since, not to mention the big beer companies getting in on the act, so Craft Beer Co. bars aren’t so thrilling to me any more. Still, this was a nice space with decent gear on tap and I’d be glad of it if I wasn’t going to go to a pub by the water for a second pint.

I then went to a pub by the water for a second pint.

The Blue Anchor is a riverside pub that looks like a riverside pub. Do you know what I mean? It’s the white and blue, I think. It’s saying nautical to me - and there are in fact a few rowing clubs around it.

It wasn’t quite warm enough to sit outside, which absolutely would have been my preference, and on a warm summer’s day I don’t doubt this is a magic spot.

It’s a nice space inside, well lit, gastro food menu, decent enough energy. Service wasn’t the best, I get the feeling you can be a bit complacent when your location is as good as this one, but on a weekday evening in early spring that’s no big deal.

David Byrne was one of the best gigs I’ve even been to, by the way. Could be big.