Unique Bars & Pubs London's Best Pubs West End Pubs The GrenadierThe Grenadier - Belgravia
The Grenadier is a London pub which wilfully shies away from the limelight, presumably safe in the knowledge that enough people will track it down by word of mouth to keep it in business. At the end of an exclusive cobbled mews, near Old Barrack Yard, visitors are 
greeted by an original sentry box out front. The Duke of Wellington's Grenadier Guards used it as their mess and gambling den. The 'Iron Duke' himself lived nearby in Apsley House - known as "No 1, London" back in the day. The officers' mess was originally located on the top floor and the gambling & drinking were conducted downstairs - which was open to the ordinary 'rank and file'.
Although it's in a high-end area of town, there's nothing posh about the Grenadier and it certainly shows its age if you look closely enough, but when has this been a problem for pubs? Part of the charm of spending an evening at the pub is how attractive it can start to look as the evening progresses - a well known phenomenon after a few drinks, which applies to people as equally to buildings and pubs in particular.
The Grenadier is composed of three rooms, dressed in dark wood panelling and military memorabilia including a genuine busby. A guardsman grooms and keeps it in condition during his regular visits. The room at the back is set aside for dining and about twenty can fit in there, at a push. No spectacular food, but decent and filling and despite numerous reviews and complaints about the expense, the costs are below average for central London. Real Ales on tap and a rare and original pewter bar, a pinch of flickering candlelight - all the ingredients for an unusual, but memorable trip out. Check the Google map below to find the pub, as it's a tricky one to track down. If you're visiting London and want to experience a pub where they don't put pictures on the menus, then leave the area around Whitehall or Trafalgar Square and branch out to this little gem (and I do mean, little).
If you're a committed ghostbuster, then this pub is a must on your itinerary. Frequently making the top 10 list of 'Most haunted pubs in the UK' and despite hanging a crucifix on the wall of the cellar, The Grenadier is a hive of supernatural activity. A young sub-altern was caught cheating at cards and 
suffered such a savage beating from his colleagues that he subsequently died from his injuries (though some maintain that he took his own life through the indignity and shame of being a cheat). I think the former explanation, though less gallant, savours more strongly of the truth. It's reputed to have occurred in September, although the exact date is unknown and it's during this month each year that supernatural activity in the pub, 'spikes'.
A solemn, silent spectre is often seen drifting about the low ceilinged bars, footsteps pace anxiously across the empty rooms above, tables and chairs rattle of their own accord, objects move, reappear, or disappear never to be seen again. Occasionally a long low moan rises up from the cellar. A Chief Superintendent, from New Scotland Yard had his hand burnt from an 'invisible' cigarette as he attempted to wave away smoke. Smoke that appeared to surround him from nowhere. Another story, from the BBC tells of an outside news report situated in front of The Grenadier. A 'stills photographer' (recording the set-ups of moving shots) captured a face in the upstairs window when taking a picture of the report. He later blew it up to full size and it showed the mournful face of a gentleman with a moustache. Of a popular style around the period of the sub-altern's death. You decide, just don't ask me to spend the night alone in their darkened cellar (mid-September).
Monday-Saturday 12:00 - 23:00, Sunday 12:00 - 22:30.
The Grenadier Pub, Wilton Row, Belgravia, London SW1X 7NR
Nearest Tube: Hyde Park Corner or Knightsbridge
Call: 020 7235 3074
