Knightsbridge

The Gloucester

187, Sloane St, London, SW1X 9QR

Date of Visit : 22nd June 2005
Approx. Time of Visit: 7.00 pm

Route Used: Piccadilly from Hyde Park Corner
Distance Traveled : 0.32 miles

Guests: None
Clientele: Gangsters and tourists

Pub Number : 045

Characteristics	Rating	Comments
Ambience		Reasonably lively as Big Tony holds court
Facilities		2 happy fruits, 2 TV's, an ItBox, Golf game and daily newspapers
Ladies		Barmaid was fair-middling, 3 or 4 ok's who were obviously shoppers popping in for a swift half

OVERALL

An interesting visit to the local gangster meeting place, but the pub itself is very average

With no obvious pubs near Harrods, we turned off down Sloane street to find our next pub. The Gloucester is a T&J with a small frontage and on two levels. We ordered our pints from a barman with a suspiciously greasy arm and after a quick review of the facilities on the inside, we decided to stand outside where it was a bit cooler and we could watch the world go by. Apart from eyeing some heavily made up tourists tottering past in their Jimmy Shu's laden with designer bags, the entertainment was surprisingly supplied by guys. First up, the 4 guys in black tie evening wear leaving the hotel opposite the pub. The fact that they were carrying their Moss Bros hire bags gave us a clue that they were probably not the poshest of guys. Probably a bunch of lads down from Yorkshire to the big smoke on a stag do....or maybe not. Anyway, the humour was gained from the Albanian doorman who, dressed in an over sized burgundy great jacket with a military cap, struggled pathetically to find them a cab. Totally clueless and with no authority whatsoever he frantically flapped his sleeves away at every passing cab, managed spectacularly to not hail a single one. Eventually, to our great disappointment, the clearly flustered guys left our friend to wander up the road in search of transport. No tip for our friend ! Also of interest was the big guy walking up and down outside the pub barking into a mobile phone about being threatened and what he'd do to anyone who did. Our suspicions that we had come across some neo - "Cosa Nostra" was confirmed when a number of his HUGE acquaintances turned up in their in pin stripes and a lot of kissing and hand shaking went on. Our friend made them all welcome and we left for Earls Court before he started telling them what a great honour they had done him, how he would one day repay them and how they should always respect the family........

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