Queen's Head is a lovely old-fashioned surburban pub on the outside, and a swish new pub on the inside. The renovated decor is a mix of cool and warm - cosy fireplaces and old-fashioned touches are retained and then contrasted with contemporary interior design tropes - plastic white deer heads on the walls, pared back chandeliers, cube shaped pouffes, a marble-bar. I don't hate it, but it is a little flavourless for me - I think I'd prefer something a little more homey.
The Queen's Head are successfully pulling in a few demographics, none of which are really me. As Andrew said, there is an older 'classier' crowd, who come for the dinners and book functions in the (quite nice) beer garden. And then younger people - university students and the tiny dresses and Roger David suits crowd.
I came here once to eat in the formal dining area with some friends. It was a little pricey for me, but the food was pretty good. We had arancini balls and some dips for starters, all of which were satisfying. Then mains - I got a bowl of blue swimmer crab pasta which was really good. Something I wouldn't usually order, but then I wouldn't usually eat somewhere like this. My friends all seemed pleased with their meals - chicken kiev, steak, and an entree-sized pasta.
A few things were annoying but not enough to ruin the meal. The desserts weren't really anything special, and I regretted ordering them after a few bites. As Andrew C. mentioned in his review, the formal dining area turns into a bit of a thoroughfare to the beer garden, which was fine except people kept leaving the door open and it was quite a cold night and I had the sniffles.
In general, a nice place to come for a few beers, good food, but not my kinda place. The toilets do have Dyson Airblade hand-dryers though! read more