The Kensington

I like a bar with a separate lounge. This place has a separate lounge and thankfully it was empty when we arrived. It could be more well lit as it’s pretty gloomy on a nice day. The bar didn’t feel very welcoming.

Used to have wonderful and crazy Nights, at this Place. many Moons ago. Just wondering, if my friend Duncan, who was the barman in these days, still works there? Miss him and the Guys so very much! Greets from frosty Germany, to the best Place in the world EVER!!! Tina xxx

I am trying to think of something good or interesting about this place and to be honest I’m kinda struggling. As has been pointed out by other reviewers there is certainly worse bars in the area, however even though it is a slight improvement it ain’t somewhere I would be particularly keen to venture back to in a hurry.
If my memory serves me right on the recent Unilocal Subcrawl I had a bottle of morretti which was nice. The pub itself is a standard traditional looking bar which the locals will love, but for outsiders it will just be a bit «meh».
I would unlikely to be back here if it was not for the 2015 Unilocal Subcrawl and I would imagine that is the case for anybody who ain’t a local.
Slightly boring two stars.

Plus points of The Kensington — after The District Bar, this seems like the Ritz. It’s tiny, though. Like a Ritz mini cracker! HAHAHA!
Sorry.
So yeah, it’s small. But, it’s also pretty damn good. They have a good range of draft beers — I had McEwans, just because. It seems to pull in a lot of folk doing the subcrawl, as it’s just a minute or two from Cessnock station, and it’s not The District.
There’s no out and out football allegiances on display, but it is a Rangers orientated pub, so keep that in mind if it’s match day, it will be a LOT busier than it was in the off season.
There’s also seats outside for that glorious 2.5 hours when it’s not raining in what we laughingly refer to as summer. Not that I’m bitter about the weather at all.
Give it a go, you could do a whole lot worse on the south side!

I went here as part of the Subcrawl. In the space of time it took for us to get to the bar, order a shot and drink it we had already been accosted by some toothless wonder who tried to crack onto my friend and use me as a tool to slag her off. The floor was sticky and my friend ran from the toilet hitting the boke. And some guy was hanging around outside trying to sell us two Dove deodorants.
Unpleasant.

From the outside, The Kensington looks like a great wee bar. There are even a couple of seats outside for those drinkers who like to get close to nature, or Paisley Road West — almost as good.
The pub was really busy because the Rangers game was on, but the lounge area in back was empty. Overall, the décor was quite plain, but the drinks were really cheap. The other punters were a bit dodgy though: neddy, verging slightly on junkie. Just don’t get between them and the football and you should be fine.