The Swan

1 Evershed Walk
119 Acton Lane
W4 5HH

020 8994 8262


Tucked away off the bottom of Acton Lane, The Swan is an old favourite of ours. A former Bass Charrington local boozer, the pub was refurbished and reopened as a gastropub in 2003 and has remained popular with locals ever since, partly because little has changed, including the Irish lady who runs the place, who may be called Barbara, but may not. It was voted Best Pub in Chiswick in last year's Time Out Love London Awards.

It's confusingly listed under South Acton on the Beer in the Evening website although the strangely named 'Beer Gutt' helpfully points out the differences between the two areas on the site: "Chiswick is a really upmarket area full of hooray henrys and ladies who lunch; South Acton is a downmarket area full of Somalians and young birds with prams."

Earlier this year The Swan hit the news, well Chiswickw4.com, when it was rated only 1 for hygiene by the Food Standards Agency, but last month it reverted to 5 (top mark) so we felt it was time to go back.

Well, that and the weather. Though to be fair it really is a pub for all seasons - in the winter it's a cosy wood-panelled refuge from the cold, in the summer the large outside garden is a welcome respite from the sweaty pavements. On one of the hottest evenings of the year we opted for the garden and - as if knowing we were bloggers with a following of almost a dozen - our waitress was at pains to highlight that the pub had been renovated last year, with the garden smartened up and a new room added.

The beer is good, with a range of handpump ales and interesting lagers on tap, but the food is the draw. It "combines Mediterranean flavours with the best British ingredients which are delivered daily direct from the markets" (in a big Brakes lorry presumably).

On the eve of National Burger Day (yes, really), Master WEST4URANTS had the burger. Ever the yang to his yin, his sister went for the burrata with heritage tomatoes from the starter menu, with a side salad. Mrs WEST4URANTS and I both had the pan-roasted fillet of sea trout with broad beans, peas, spinach and lemon, which was a perfect mix of summer flavours. And chips.

Just to prove it really was summer, we washed it all down with an aperol spritz and a bottle of Brangelina's ubiquitous rosé. The Swan looks set to retain its crown for a while yet.


Food (for 5): £80.00
Drink: £49.90
Total: £146.14