Hollywood Arms

BoatLady ( 30s, Female, South Chelsea )

Drinking at the Hollywood Arms followed by dinner at Brinkleys is a classic West Chelsea night out, and you could be forgiven for confusing which one you're in as the fronts are now almost identical. The Hollywood Arms was a likeable pub before the re-furb but has now been further gentrified in a comfortable, but ubiquitous, “modern elegance” style (think duck-egg velour chairs, oversized station clocks and elephant breath Farrah & Ball paints). Although you are in a pub you can unashamedly indulge in a cocktail in a fancy glass, wear spiky heels with leather trousers (girls)/raspberry skinny jeans with V-neck mustard jumper over a buttoned up denim shirt (guys), and expect friendly (if slightly slow) table service. Traces of a more traditional pub remain: there's also a grey-haired man here with his Yorkshire Terrier. The shortish wine list includes the usual Chardonnays etc but also more interesting wines like White Rioja and Albarino. Sadly they had some sort of extractor fan problem last night which seemed to be backfiring and filling the room with rank mist so we legged it pre-food, but on the basis of previous meals here I'd say the menu is slightly more ambitious than the usual gastro-fare, and the prices reflect that; I don't think the cooking quite matches up to the ambitions but it's perfectly reasonable.