The Alma Tavern, Wandsworth Town

The first time I ever went to the Alma was over two years ago now. I experienced one of the most surprising lapses in customer service I have ever had, in that when my friend and I approached the bar together, the barman asked my friend what he would like to drink, and duly served it to him. Then he took payment and wandered off without even looking at me, and I had to actually call him back over from whatever he was doing and ask if I could order a drink too! Bizarre, and sadly quite representative of the level of service each time I've visited. Staff seem find it difficult to spot customers waiting at the bar even though it's a very open, exposed bar, and every time I've ordered food there it's taken just long enough to come out that I've always been just on the point of going to ask where it was. In fairness I've never yet actually had to enquire if my food was coming, but the wait times are uncomfortable and the staff don't seem interested in what they're doing. You'd be much better off going to the Ship which is 5 minutes away and a hell of a lot more fun.

1 Jan 2012 20:30

All Bar One, Richmond

A friend and I popped into this branch of All Bar One for a bite to eat and were pretty disappointed with what we received. First of all, there were a lot of dishes missing from the menu, though to give credit where credit's due our waiter gave both explanation and apology for this, and the staff don't normally offer table service there so he was going out of his way to be helpful to us. Yet it was the food itself which was lacking. We ordered flatbread with two types of houmous - plain and caramleised red onion - and the latter just turned out to be a bowl of houmous with some red onion dumped on top of it. Not sure what we were expecting, but they could barely be classified as exotically as two different types of houmous! We also had some prawns, which had supposedly been marinated in chilli oil but were completely tasteless and served, rather oddly, in a bowl of olive oil; and some sort of tempura chicken with was served with a dip of....olive oil. It wasn't the worst food ever, just there was nothing special about it; it had clearly been made without care or thought; and the weird garnishes and sauces again showed this lazy lack of care or concern. It did the job but I wouldn't recommend it.

1 Jan 2012 19:55

The Sun, Richmond

I think the Sun's a great little place. It's an old-school boozer with no pretensions and the staff put emphasis on getting to know their regulars. They don't make 'em like they used to.

1 Jan 2012 19:43

Orange Tree, Richmond

I feel the need to stick up for this pub as I think some of its reviewers are being pretty unfair. I've been a patron of the Orange Tree on a fairly regular basis for the past couple of months now, and the reason why I've consistently returned to it is because I've always been recognised, made to feel welcome and given excellent service. Sure, the bar staff probably mainly aren't 'professionals', but they're universally friendly, smiley, good-looking and very efficient, so what more could you want? They know their stuff, too, and really do seem to go out of their way to be helpful.

I'm mainly posting this because I am a little baffled by the comment below about the price of the food - regardless of how much the food might cost for the pub to purchase or how much it be sold for in a local Morrison's, obviously there has to be some mark-up or the business wouldn't make any money, and yes, of course you could eat in a fast-food joint or at home for cheaper, but surely that's not the point of going out for a meal?! You're paying for the experience of dining out, not simply for the food itself. That's how I've always seen it, anyway. Plus slightly higher prices keep the 'riff-raff' away - if you want cheap food, nip down to Wetherspoons for a reheated microwave meal and enjoy hanging out with their salubrious clientele. Personally I don't think the Orange Tree is expensive, especially not for south-west London, and whenever I've eaten there I've always been really happy with the food - it's a menu of simple but really tasty pub classics which doesn't overreach itself by trying to conform to the current gourmet fad. And they have the option of large or small portions for all their main courses, which I think is a really nice idea (my nan would probably approve as she can never manage normal restaurant portions). All in all, a lot of thought has clearly gone into it, surely also demonstrated by the fact that the menus are printed from a hand-written copy.

Anyway, I went on for a bit longer than I meant to there! Just thought it was worth putting in a good word for the pub because I've always really loved going there. Would definitely recommend it to anyone as the best pub in Richmond.

1 Jan 2012 19:14