It’s certainly been “a welcome addition” to Balham, but the success of this “beautiful” revamped pub (“with masses of garden seating”) had led to a “mixed-bag” performance, not least on the service front; it can be “excruciatingly loud” too.
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The idea, until recently, that anyone would have positively chosen to dine out on Balham Hill would have been pretty much ridiculous. Well, no longer, it seems. In the wake of Brasserie James (whic...
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Press Reviews (2)
John Walsh (16th February 2009)
Food 2/5 stars, Ambience 3/5 stars, Service 3/5 stars
“Not a disastrous dinner, just frustratingly ordinary” is the verdict on this previously “spectacularly grotty pub” which has undergone “one hell of a makeover”. But, “[w]hen a pub has been so expensively kicked into gastropub league, the cooking should be handled with more style and conviction”, and – here – despite “gorgeous”, “sensational”, “comfy” looks, the “comfort food” is “just a teeny bit Snoresville”.
Zoe Williams (10th February 2009)
5/10
The critic vists a “poshed up” boozer, not far from Clapham South tube. Its menu “talks a terrific game”, but results are oddly up-and-down. The explanation: “somewhere around here is one lazy bleeder” – do the Telegraph’s subs really let its writers use language like that? – “because the person who knows how to cook really knows how to cook”.
John Walsh (16th February 2009)
Zoe Williams (10th February 2009)
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