Restaurants

Hidden in the backstreets between Barons Court tube and Fulham Palace Road, this maroon-painted corner pub no longer resembles the grubby boozer it once was. Smart wooden furniture, white walls and skylights make the ground floor bright and breezy; upstairs is another space, next to the kitchen, with retractable roof. After an adventurous gastronomic start, drinking has taken over again – especially on Mondays, when diners’ conversation is drowned out by the quiz master. Draught beers range from Timothy Taylor Landlord and London Pride, to Petermans, Hoegaarden and Leffe. The menu is pretty standard pub fare: burger with cheese, or sausages, mash and cabbage, with sticky toffee pud or warm chocolate mud cake for afters. Most successful are the sharing platters (houmous, baba ganoush, flatbread, peppers and so on) that require minimal cooking. Little attention is paid to seasonality (there was a surfeit of wintery dishes in late May) or balance (three mains came with red wine jus). Staff weren’t very clued up either, with no record of our booking and the previous day’s menus still in circulation. The Queen’s Arms is a sociable spot, and probably a boon if you live nearby, but there’s better food available elsewhere.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009