please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Arty, trendy Badger pub offering up to 4 Badger cask ales a nd an an attractive and above average selection of reasonably priced meals. Bare wood, mismatched chairs, green leather sofas, and a trendy arty clientèle. On our visit there was an art and craft market taking place in the pub.
The food was delightful, but due to the cold weather the beers had not developed in the cold cellar and both had diacetyl. More care with conditioning the beers, and this would be a perfect pub.
|
a very nice hall and woodhouse offering,the pint of tanglefoot(�3.30) was very good and the service friendly,7/10
|
Fortunately under new ownership The Woodman seems to have recovered some of its previous form. It used to be a regular haunt with a strong food offering, enthusiastic management and a successful pub quiz, as well as a large & loyal customer base, but as some of the reviews below note it really lost its way a couple of years back, and I'd stopped going (along with just about everyone else). At one point it was a disaster scene - huge 'lease for sale' sign above the door (always a bad sign), almost three quarters of the pub in complete darkness, a couple of seats at the front occupied by rather unsavoury looking punters, TV on full whack...
But now it seems to be back as a reliable local - the food is back after a long absence, the real ales are there again (Badger has always been a favourite of this pub, Tanlgefoot is also there, though surprisingly no Sambrook's given the brewery's about one minute from the pub). Decent staff, and generally has a comfortable feel to it.
This was always a large pub - with the 'old school' area round the bar at the front, and a large more food-y extension behind, and at the very back a garden; it takes a lot of people to fill it and you'll usually find a seat. It attracts a similar crowd to The Castle opposite, which is quite a strong competitor - hopefully the pub will regain its past audience, as when this pub does work, it's a good'un.
|
Not awfully pubby with its stripped back decor and huge tv screen, but the staff are nice and the beer is good.
|
Now under new management and has thus received a slight boost in the arm. The staff are friendlier than they were. Food is acceptable but not great and still over-priced. Beer is ok, although not a fan of their bitters etc. myself.
|
Since my last post< I have been back to this pub and it is hanging on for dear life.
Everything which made this place is being stripped out of it, with no one stepping forward to take this place on and with the brewery having closed one place in London down it is only a matter of time before the coup de grace is delivered.
|
The current landlord of this pub has called it a day and as such there is the stench of death about the place.
This pub is slowy being stripped down and there is a nonchalant attitude amongst the staff who with one or two exceptions seem to be put out when you ask them for a drink and decide to clean the pipes at odd times of the day as opposed to the end of it meaning that more than one pump is normally off.
Until a new landlord is in place this pub is to be avoided it's a shame I've been coming here for years. They host a regular quiz night and even after next week this is gone (to the Castle) across the road. Just needs some new management who want to make an effort and put some life back into the place.
|
Too many rugby playing idiots with no concept of manners, personal space or how to modulate their vocal volume (par for the area, I suppose) but not a bad pub otherwise. Not a particularly good one either, though....
|
Great local. We stayed at a friends house just down the road when we first shifted to London and this pub was where we generally headed too. A bit smokey but come 1 July that will change, food OK, good selection of beer and wine!
|
Love it, Badger rules.
Although it has gotten me in a bit of bother with the staff.
Food is great - Dr Will had a bad meal but i have never been so unlucky.
Tucked away so you wouldn;t stumble upon it but if your in the know its a real delight.
|
Badger Beer - fantastic.
Really good food, cheap as hell if you get in on the two-for-one thing early evenings.
Big screen for sport
Comfy sofas
Distinct lack of oiks/Foster's drinkers.
Marvellous.
|
Visited the Woodman for the first time in several months. It has been refurbed (slightly)but the beers remain interesting and the largers terrible. Service was average until time was called when the barmaid stood over our table repeating "drink up" whilst several groups of cronies were left to drink full pints at their own pace. Won't be going there again
anonymous - 4 Jun 2006 17:45 |
Great pub :-)
Good beer, very friendly staff and a great atmosphere
One of the best pubs in Battersea
|
Went in here a year ago and it had the feel of a local pub - went back a few weeks ago to watch some footie and they see to have had a facelift, presumably to compete with the Castle
Food we had was pretty dire to be honest, but staff friendly and the best place for footie on the High Street I reckon - just stick to the scratchings
|
First experience: had a risotto that was swimming in truffle oil and salt and looked like I could have left a footprint in it and have it set before I finished my pint. Was unable to finish it, and for me that's some admission...
(Apparently, normally food is good though).
Second experience: much better. Big screen 6 Nations rugby, not too busy, great atmosphere and the ale-swiggers in our group were best pleased with their pints of Badger.
Third experience: some desperate argument at the bar between the staff about bills. My bill was mixed up, so were 3 others that I know of on that night.
Overview: Good pub, quiet and tucked-away treat. Check your bill and you'll leave happy.
|
Having just moved to the area, I have no idea what the 'old Woodman' was like, but I do feel that there should always be room for a pool table. However, as it stands, and given that I generally prefer old boozers, I actually quite liked it. Beer was good, staff decent, didn't need to get out of my chair as the beer was brought over. Food looked good, although not up to top quality, according to a couple of the sloaney cheek kissers in the corner. I thought quite a good balance. I agree with an earlier comment in that it is a pub trying to do decent food, and not a gastropub. Oh, and one of Take That was in with his dog. Very Northern.
|
Been here a few times now. The food is decent but you'd hope so for the price. The staff are a mixed bunch - some being friendly and efficient others not. The eastern european barman in particular was useless as he didn't seem to understand a word and didn't take our food order leaving us waiting for an hour. However, the bitter is good and the punters are a nice bunch. Do agree that the screen positioning for sport seems a little odd though.
|
Ahh, Mruk I remember those days.
|
What happened to the old Woodman, where a man could quite happily walk up to another and knock his block off without so much as a 'yer barred'. Where drinking until 5am was expected of a Friday and where you were never sure whether Meg was the landlords dog or his wife...Still, good to see The Raven open again, The Castle's ok too, then there's the Duke, that new joint 'The Village' and drinks in the Square when the weather warms up....
|
I went here a few times 'pre-Changing rooms' makeover and found it to be pleasant enough, if in need of some minor improvements.
After the alterations last June it was a great pub to be in for 3-4 months with friendly, cheery bar staff, excellent beer and food and everyone genuinely trying hard to make it the best Gastro-type pub in Battersea.
Unfortunately, as tends to happen, a hell of a lot of people decided to make this their pub as well and it started to go downhill slightly.
This started with the Menu that suddenly stopped being updated daily, many dishes went up by a few quid, and the food was generally of a poorer standard.
Also, it now seems to have an incredibly high turnover of staff and Michael is rarely to be seen?
All in all, I liked it pre-Michael, enjoyed it for the first few months last Summer/Autumn, but it now seems to have become rather lazy of late.
Still serves a great pint of Premium though.
|
I'm afraid the Woodman no longer has the Fruities, pool table or most importantly the dartboard as described above. Why not? Because a Landlord with the charm and charisma of a dung beetle moved in and decided there weren't enough Gastro pubs in the area. Oh, how we mocked his talk of getting 'a really good chef in' and quietly seethed about the missing dartboard. Being tucked away on Battersea High Street we thought he couldn't possibly draw the food punters in. We were wrong. The 'jus' has been flowing ever since, but in all honesty the food I've sampled has been nothing to write home about. The crying shame is that when we first stumbled upon this establishment it was what can only be described as a 'proper boozer'. A place with the odd happy hour, a place for playing Jenga or Trivial Pursuit and yes, a place for a good ol' game of arrows over a quiet pint.
Maybe it needed a little bit of tweaking but it was a nice 'local's local�, without a lingering thought that it might kick off at any minute for looking at someone's pint.
So where are we now? Well, I'm still there every weekend so they must be doing something right. It's very near to where I live (which helps) and the HB on tap is very nice. Apart from a couple of long term friendly staff (not the Landlord!) they do seem have a high turnover of bar staff. The regulars at the bar are a mix of born and bred locals and 'professionals' (although maybe a bit unfair to refer to them as 'Hugh Grant look alike twerps' - you might see a couple of �celebrities�, say someone from a nineties boy band or a very drunk actress from a certain religion themed BBC One sitcom talking about a particular form of feminine waxing!) You're better off going to The Castle if it's sunny as the 'garden at rear' is not exactly a sun trap (unfortunately, the Landlord can't be blamed for that). Most of the paintings on sale look like a GCSE Art student did them. Oh, and one last thing... Why suddenly decide the pub does need a big screen for the sport and then erect it in the most cramped and ridiculous space, necessitating anyone sitting on the sofa to move, and enabling about three people at the bar to see the screen? For the benefit of the Landlord perhaps?
Right, I'm off for a pint...
|
"Well Michael, if the new Woodman isn't shut and turned into flats before Xmas, I'll eat my hat. Or maybe one of your over-priced servings of fish n' chips in a cone of post-ironic newspaper." - Seb 11 Jun 2004
Well Seb isn't it hat eating time?
Mario - 10 May 2005 12:07 |
Excellent, local pub with a great atmosphere, nice and friendly staff. The food has suffered a little with the loss of the original chef (original in the sense that he was there for the relaunch) but remains good. I have been drinking here for several years and think the revamp was a much needed change.
|
Very recently visited this pub out of hours on a proffessional basis, and was most impressed with the set up, decoration and ambience. Keen to revisit on a social basis i thought id check out any reviews and was surprised to find quite bitter and sad reviews from locals who have obviously lost their grubby pub to remodernisation and progress. Food menu looked great and affordable. Hope the atmosphere lives up to expectations.
rachel - 19 Sep 2004 13:45 |
I am also a local to this pub.
The old place was a little tired and worn, maybe in need of some TLC.
The new pub is bright & fresh.The replica soccer kit wearing types,seem to have been replaced by Hugh Grant lookalike twerps, who spend half an hour on a simple food & drink order.
This pub has moved on !
Whether for the better or the worse. ( the answer is blowing in the wind) "Bob Dylan 1963"
KEVIN - 17 Sep 2004 21:40 |
Mario, are you deluded or is this just the UEA mafia talking? This pub has undergone some much needed cosmetic changes. It is airier and lighter. But the changes are not radical. Moreover, important factors - like having decent sized televisions or not running out of Guinness during the England vs France opener for Euro 2004 - are simply more important. Get the basics right before you start messing around with the decor. That said, it is an improvement but only just
Paul - 25 Jun 2004 16:26 |
As a local of this pub I have to disagree whole heartedly with your comments. I have been drinking here for seven years and have some very fond memories of the 'Old Woodman'. However just before Michael took over the Woodman was being poorly managed and was looking likely to go bust.
The place was starting to look very shabby. Let me remind you of the facts. A pipe burst next door to the pub causing the back of the bar area to be flooded this stayed like this for three months. The carpet at the back of the pub had seen the best years of it's life and can be best described as "sticky". It�s still retains the original features of the old pub but now with more room and light
You could not buy food. The food now is excellent and is reasonably priced there is something for all budgets.
The pub has atmosphere again with people actually in the place with a good mix. It is no All - Bar one there are locals drinking there who have been drinking there for over twenty years.
Previous to that it was empty. It is no yuppie wine bar but a rejuvenated local. The fact that the pub quiz is back is a virtue in itself.
It is not trying to be a restaurant but a pub where you can get a good meal.
Mario - 25 Jun 2004 16:10 |
I concur with the previous two postees. The Woodman has had the fittings and the soul stripped out of it simultaneously.
The frontage now advertises "Al Fresco Drinking". That's the beer garden to you and me.
While decent food is welcome in a pub as a supplement to its core delivery (ie booze), a pub that openly prefers food-consumers to drinkers is a very confused one.
It is (was) a PUB, not a restaurant. And if they think they can compete with that bland yuppie-hole The Castle.. well, that's just dim. Sigh! Goodbye to the only decent pub in Battersea. Cheers, The Landlord.
Alison - 12 Jun 2004 02:07 |
I spoke too soon! Cosy wood panelling...gone....London memorabilia...gone....pool table...gone...cracking little pub, deceased. In fact, take my review of what the Woodman wasn't 5 months ago, (below), reverse it, and you've got what it has become. Michael, the new landlord, made it clear to the pub quiz teams the week the pub shut, that he wanted upmarket diners, people who would spend more than �15 a head (skinflints!) People are apparently about to besiege the pub for his marvellous grub (assuming they don't go into any of the other 9,999 gastropubs in SW11) and the boring old regulars were in the way. Without him, he claims, the pub would be shut anyway. Well Michael, if the new Woodman isn't shut and turned into flats before Xmas, I'll eat my hat. Or maybe one of your over-priced servings of fish n' chips in a cone of post-ironic newspaper.
Seb - 11 Jun 2004 13:14 |
This must be the only pub in north Battersea that hasn't been turned into a yuppie wine bar (the similarly named Original Woodman next door has confused it's last punter, as it's now a yuppie jazz bar called Le Que quem Bar. Ugh!). In fact, to find a comparable pub you'd have to travel to either Wandsworth, West Brompton or Clapham Common, all about 3 miles away, so it's great that The Woodman is still here.
Yes it's got a bit tatty, and yes the pool table is sorely missed, but the new management and staff are really friendly and the beer (Hall and Woodhouse) is always superb. An excellent unpretentious local with a cosy wood-panelled bar and none of the braying, rugby-shirted gits that have destroyed the rest of SW11. And it's got a great garden!
seb - 26 Jan 2004 13:17 |
Tables and chairs falling to bits the place has a seedy feel about it. Shame because it does Tanglefoot, which is rare in these parts. Customers are the usually loud Battersea yuppy crowd. Service Ok. Pool table is out, designer grub is in.
|
Cracking little pub with a warm wood fire, good food and plenty of board games including floor size Jenga! Nice patio for summer drinking, pool table and lots of London memerobilia decorationg the walls. Seems to be a bit of a local's local, but they are always very friendly and welcoming.
Andy Ferguson - 10 Aug 2003 21:20 |
