Thought it was about time I reviewed my local pub. I treat it so much as a local that I forgot that people actually come here especially for food and if they need somewhere to stay in Kew as a hotel. Years ago The Kew Gardens Hotel (as it was then called) was a blot on Kew's landscape. The only people who drank there were people who wanted to play snooker and the odd person staying in the hotel who couldn't be bothered to stagger down to The Railway a few 100 yards down the road.

Now it's all changed - a massive refurbishment in 2004 turned it into a large comfy gastro pub that is friendly and is the place where you can hang out with lots of mates, but you'd also be happy to bring your family for Sunday lunch, dinner or even have a family party there.

When you enter it looks like a traditional pub. Lots of comfy sofas, hardy looking bar tables that look like they've been there for a 100 years. There's a blackboard with yummy bar snacks - the house burger rivals GBK burgers not as large but the meat literally melts in your mouth and is served with a delicious tomato relish & rocket (my favourite weed).

They also do large club sandwiches, stacks of house chips, and some very tasty hand cooked pork scratchings with apple sauce.

Moving to the back of the pub though and it turns into a restaurant or more of a gastro-pub. It's much lighter and airier in the back and has more of a family atmosphere. There's also a really cute beer garden - like the huge hanging baskets outside it's what you would expect of a pub so close to Kew's Botanical Gardens.

Everytime, I've eaten here the food's been very good. The menu changes every week and the ingredients are fresh and prepared (usually) very quickly in a busy kitchen, with the staff ringing bells and saying "chef" all the time.

There's also a cool mezzanine upper floor with even more leather sofas and a widescreen TV if you feel you have to watch TV.

I prefer to sit downstairs with a glass of wine, a burger and a stack of papers, happy in the knowledge that I live a stone's throw from one of the best pubs in Kew.