The Plough, Clapham Junction

I would love to be able to review The Plough however they claim to be so busy that they are able to afford to turn away business. A girlfriend and I planned on visiting for Sunday lunch last weekend and so called in advance to book. On calling we were told that they only took bookings for groups of 8 or more but as we were only 2, we would have, and I quote 'absolutely no trouble' finding a table.

So, we duly turned up and we were indeed impressed with the newly refurbished surroundings. There were plenty of smaller tables unoccupied and so we approached the bar to purchase drinks before settling in. On asking for a food menu whilst at the bar, we were greeted with a look of horror. Two people wanting food as opposed to eight?! We were then greeted by another chap clutching a clipboard who told us we would have to wait an hour and a half for a table...but what was happening with all of the empty ones?! He had various names written on his clipboarded list but there was no-one unseated within the bar and/or restaurant area and no-one appeared to be waiting and - as we already knew - no-one could book unless they were a group of eight. Utterly baffled by the whole scenario we turned on our heels and left. We walked ten minutes down the road to The Establishment on Battersea Rise which really was fit to burst on the restaurant side. Rather than turning us away, however, the fantastic staff offered us a seat in the bar and chose to bend the rules and serve us food in there - now THAT is service.

It's truly disappointing that our visit to The Plough didn't work out, particularly as the sister of the friend I was with had previously written a rave review on a well known site which was the whole purpose of us going. I'm afraid to say, we won't bother returning...unless of course we are a group of 8!

31 Oct 2011 14:03