Is the King Arms a summer pub? I've always thought so but after a couple of years away, I decided to spend a Sunday afternoon there with a group of friends to see if the answer is still 'yes'.
I was amazed to see how many of my fellow Sutton residents were taking advantage of the rare June sun to see if they could also find the answer to this burning question. The beer garden which flanks the entrance was packed. Cold lagers were being drunk. Children were playing games. A barbeque sizzled with burgers and hotdogs. We fought our way through the throngs and towards the bar, which was a little quieter. The draught lager choices weren't particularly to our liking so we went down the bottled route, buying a round of Portugal's famous Sagres, a beer that's not always easy to find.
As there was no room out front we exited through the back door, to stand in a quieter part of the pub's grounds. We remained there for a good few hours, sunning ourselves and making occasional trips to a very reasonably priced barbeque.
Sadly, my summer love affair was not to last. A member of staff came out and warned us about standing too near to customers cars. We weren't, and had been in the same spot for several hours with nothing said to us. The fact other families were standing in exactly the same way made the comments feel slightly mean and inconsistent, as did a large sign informing customers that the pub accepts no responsibility for the cars parked there. Maybe I'll go back in winter. read more