Kingston Arms

No Longer In Business

Little has changed since my last visit back in March 2005. I was not into RateBeer then and reviewed the place in BITE (Beer In The Evening). It's still a very much real ale oriented pub with a strong community feel. The bar in the middle serves seating sections in the front and on both sides. There is a comfortable patio in the back. Nice floral decorations outside, and the walls inside are decorated by lots of mirrors, among others. The beer menu of 13 ales and ciders on hand-pumps are supported by a decent selection of bottles, and a Gin menu. No thirds, only pints or half-pints. Food options from their own kitchen. Polite service. Located in a residential area, a few minutes walk off Mill Road. (Visited with Frau Eva, 08.07.2019).

Nice pub that Grumbo and Danlo stopped at on way back to train station. Decent sized and surprisingly empty for a Friday afternoon/early evening. Selection had some stuff that interested me for sure.

Traditional pub along a street with terrace houses within an easy walk from Cambridge station. Good selection of real ales on handpull plus two ciders on the main bar. Cosy inside with good atmosphere, also more space outside. Visited with Grumbo and SHIG, fairly quiet on an early Friday evening.

A cozy pub with four kegs and six casks on at our visit. Unfortunately most of them had fairly widely distributed beers on. Good conditioning and friendly staff.

Nice pub with friendly staff. Good selection of locals and other UK beers. Had 3 new beers here.

Aug '21 Review - 28. There has been a complete change in here. It's just a snooty wine bar now that does a couple of boring nationally available casks. It's now off my list. Aug '18 rate - 78. Surprised I hadn't reviewed this pub before as we have been here on many occasions. Smart and modernised busy pub in the Mill Street circuit, more a place for those in the know rather than tourists. Plenty of room, with a pleasant patio area to the back. Decent beer range in both cask and keg. The food is very popular though I don't remember eating there yet. A must visit in this part of town.

Visited 14/4/2018. Immediately liked this place. Attractive outside and in, with a busy buzz to it, with lots of customers both inside and outside in the patio garden enjoying the food and first day of spring sunshine. Good selection of 10-12 ales and ciders. Friendly service. Best prices we saw over the 2 days. Definitely one to include on a Cambridge pub tour.

Once you go back streets you never go mainstreets. Cozy pub. We hit it during the lunch hour and it was full of food aromas. But service was quick and pleasant. Cask beers were in prime condition, especially Mighty Oak-Oscar Wilde mild, which gave me multiple orgasms. This beer completely changed my mind how milds should taste. Will visit again when in town.

Probably the Cambridge boozer that I most frequent, a cosy pub with a small patio garden. Bar staff are always casual and friendly, and there is a large enough selection of ales to keep you there for a little while. Guest ales change quite frequently, so you may find something new.

Another comfortable back street pub in the Mill Lane cluster that I’ve visited several times and thought I’d reviewed but hadn’t. The feel is a bit similar to the Cambridge Blue, although the beer range is a bit smaller and somewhat undermined from a ticking perspective by the fact that a number of the casks - Crouch Vale Brewers Gold, Thornbridge Jaipur, Taylor’s Landlord, Summer Lightning & Oakham JHB - seem to be permanent fixtures. The other 5 or 6 casks change constantly so I normally find something new, but there have been occasions when I haven’t. They also run regular monthly mini-festivals. Pleasant, enclosed patio/garden at the back. They have free WiFi but also a couple of computers in the bar area for public use. Definitely worth a visit and, as you’re going to be in the immediate vicinity for the other pubs nearby anyway, it gets near-essential billing.