Druids Head — Restaurant in London

Now Kingston town centre is being sold off at an alarming rate, historic venues and local conveniences have been demolished to make way for a gigantic Unilever office and other pockets are also up for grabs as unaffordable luxury flats pop up all over. The town centre is a sea of empty shop-fronts, owed in part to extortionate rents and a desire to appeal more high-end.

Which is why it's somewhat remarkable that this pub still exists. It's currently the oldest pub in Kingston, dating back to 1550 when it was "The Bell", changing to "The Lion and Lamb" in the early 1700s, documented by the owners death records due to "excessive drinking". In 1832 it became "The Druids Head" on account of the landlord being a member of the Order of the Druids, and is referenced in the book "Three Men in a Boat" as they set off from here.

The pub today is owned by Greene King, your usual chain pub food, is spacious throughout and has terrible chalkboard patter out front (e.g. "Gin O'Clock", "Top of the Hops", "Bears, wouldn't risk it", "Keep January Dry - Dry Gin, Dry Wine etc"). Upstairs there's a huge screen for sports, downstairs there's nooks and benches to surround yourself in darkness or watch the world go by in the marketplace.

Beer selection leaves little to be desired on keg if you're after a craftier affair, but with 3 non-GK ales on at sub £5 a pint you can't be too picky. I went for a "fraidnot" by Exeter Brewery which was lovely. Very sinkable golden ale with a decent bitterness.

Seemed like a nice pub on a not-too-busy afternoon, imagine on the weekends it's rammed. I'll head back if I'm passing, but at least I can say I've been, before it's turned into an upmarket handbag shop or...

A pub steeped with history in Kingston’s market square and a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of the town centre.

The drink selection is fairly decent, but pretty expensive. I get that the prices are relative to the area, but Druids is getting quite scruffy and in need of a refurb so the prices don’t really befit the premises. The food is also quite basic and pricy for what it is (no better than Spoons really but much more pricy).

That said, it’s a nice outlet in town and the staff are always friendly, including door staff on Friday and Saturday nights. Often there’s live music at the weekend too. Not the best pub in town - hopefully Greene King throw some money at the place to smarten it up a bit!

Update: visited on a sultry May evening and was impressed by the way they have decorated the side courtyard and the nice dimly lit evening feel with lamps on the tables. Upgraded my review to 4/5 as the outside is much better now and very inviting. Will make a nice place to go in the warmer months.

Sadly they’re now taking the Michael with their prices. Nearly £16 for a pint and spirit with mixer now. It’s not exactly The Ritz. The toilets are grim and the pub is quite shabby and worn. They need to sort the prices out quick snap as it’s more expensive than most pubs in town. It’s no better than Spoons and you’d save £6 on the round there....

I have visited this venue several times previously and always found it to have a pleasant atmosphere. However, my most recent experience was extremely disappointing. On a quiet Saturday evening, a friend and I attempted to enter and politely asked the security at the door what time the venue closed. We were told 1am, and simply replied that we would go in for a quick drink. To our surprise, one of them responded with an extremely unprofessional comment: “Nice try trying to distract us to sneak in.”

This was completely uncalled for, as we had done nothing other than ask a question and state we were going to enter. When we then presented our IDs, my friend’s CitizenCard was refused, and we were told it “doesn’t count as ID.” One of the security also remarked that it was “not their problem” that one of us did not hold a driver’s licence. The entire interaction felt unnecessarily rude, dismissive and extremely unwelcoming.

Overall, this was a very unprofessional experience that left a poor impression. I would advise others to be cautious when visiting, as the behaviour of the door staff does not reflect the standards expected of a reputable establishment. I appreciate looking young but I would also suggest the venue invests in a proper ID scanning device to verify CitizenCards. Perhaps then this venue wouldn’t be almost empty on a...