London's best beer gardens

Best beer gardens in west London

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  Phene

  9 Phene Street, Chelsea, SW3 5NY (020 7352 9898)

  The new owners of what used to be called the Phene Arms invested in a wonderful garden refurb in 2010, complete with comfy seating, water feature and patio heating. On our visit, the jolly customers were beaming like the sun. To drink there are a few lagers on tap, and a very limited selection of wines by the glass; be warned the wines we tried were tired and characterless. The spirits list is decent, though, so maybe that’s the way to go. The Phene is a good-looking pub garden filled with well-heeled customers, which makes it great for people-watching. Be warned that this is not the place for a lively knees-up – the security staff ensure drinkers don’t make too much of a racket, and also that they leave the garden by 10pm sharp – part of the licence agreement in this very well-to-do residential area.
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  Stein's

  55 Richmond Towpath, Richmond, TW10 6UX (020 8948 8189)

  This is a leafy, lederhosen-slapping, stein-swaying, pretzel-munching Bavarian beer garden perched right on the Richmond riverside overlooking the Thames. A selection of unfeasibly large sausages is the ‘wurst’ they can do, while the Bavarian beers, available in towering two-pint steins, include the golden Helles from Paulaner, Erdinger weissbier and, in bottle, the delectable dark Erdinger Dunkelweiss. There’s a small children’s play area too. In spring and summer, if the weather’s good, it’s open noon until 9pm daily; in winter, just at weekends.
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  Swan

  Evershed Walk, 119 Acton Lane, Chiswick, W4 5HH (020 8994 8262)

  Sweltering in central London? Then jump on the 94 bus heading west and don’t alight until the engine is turned off. Within seconds, you can be sitting in the dappled light of The Swan’s lush and leafy 30-table garden sipping well-kept cask ales from one of Chiswick’s best-kept secrets. As the local hero, Fuller’s ales are ever-present at the pumps – perhaps ESB – with guests such as Summer Lightning or TEA from Hogs Back in support. There’s a strong wine list too, and super-friendly staff.
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  Crabtree

  Rainville Road, Hammersmith, W6 9HA (020 7385 3929)

  On a fine stretch of riverbank between Hammersmith and Putney bridges, in shouting distance of the Michael Jackson statue at Fulham’s Craven Cottage, this big Victorian boozer was gastrofied a couple of years back. On a sunny day locals can be found in their droves enjoying some of the nicest waterside drinking in the city, a gorgeous, gigantic beer garden bedecked in wood and stylish shrubbery. The seats under the weeping willow deserve especial mention. Inside, at a big lounge bar furnished with deep leather banquettes, weighty wooden tables and a smattering of stools you can sup a daily-changing roster of ales such as Courage Best, Meantime or Greene King London Glory, or cider from Aspall or Symonds. As befits a chalk-board clad boozer, the wine list is extensive, with bottles beginning at £15.25. Food-wise, in addition to a barbecue menu (burger, gherkin, aïoli and chips), diners can tuck their napkins in tighter for the slightly dearer dinner menu.
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  White Horse

  1-3 Parsons Green, Parsons Green, SW6 4UL (020 7736 2115)

  Only the lack of ceiling fans stop the main bar of this renowed hostelry from feeling like something from the days of the Raj, but it is the umbrella-covered outdoor tables that are most coveted. You can expect plenty of turned-up collars and rugby shirts here, but the spread of customers is wider than you might imagine. Beer is the great leveller: there are usually eight to ten ales on offer at the mahogany bar, with Harveys Sussex Best, Adnam’s Broadside and Oakham JHB making regular appearances, and the glorious list of bottled brews is particularly strong on Belgian and American beers. Of the pub’s four regular beer festivals, those most apt for alfresco boozers are May’s London Beer Festival, the American Beer Festival around Independence Day and August’s Belgian Beer Festival.
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  Windsor Castle

  114 Campden Hill Road, Kensington, W8 7AR (020 7243 8797)

  With its ship-shape black-and-white exterior, the Windsor Castle has got the whole traditional pub thing down to a T. There’s no TV, no blaring music, a great British food menu, a tenderly proffered and elaborately broad range of real ales (Timothy Taylor Landlord and London Pride are only the most frequent visitors) and ciders, as well as wine and exotic spirits. Notwithstanding its cosily wood-panelled interior, this is a superb hostelry for summer, when the glorious, ivy-clad back garden, complete with barbecue and fuelled by fruit-filled jugs of Pimm’s, comes into its own.