Weir, Brentford  

Brentford's first gastropub - operating since 2004 - should be a dream come true. Sat on a side street just behind a resiliently downmarket parade of shops, the original green-tiled exterior draws you closer. It's then you see the logo is beginning to peel and a food menu which stretches into the eye-watering high teens price bracket. Once inside, you almost entirely lose the feeling of being in a pub. There's a little wood panelling left, but the world music seems incongruous and the furniture makes it look more like an upmarket Italian restaurant. The saving grace is the back garden, partially overlooking the canal, but more overlooking the ticky-tacky flats which have sprung up along this once unloved tract of water. Indeed, the giant sign facing towards these flats to advertise the existence of the Weir indicates exactly who their target demographic is. Service is patchy - an attentive barman was replaced by a surly girl who, to put it nicely, needed more training before being allowed back behind the bar. Overall, we had high hopes for the Weir, but sadly can only award a middling two pint rating.

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