The Rocket , Putney

Visited here yesterday afternoon and stayed for nine hours (lunch & dinner). This place is a revelation to me especially having been generally prejudiced against Wetherspoon pubs as I had never (until yesterday) had a good pint of well kept real ale therein either due to uncleaned beer lines or dispensing very cloudy beginnings and ends of barrels. However the Brewsters Hophead dispensed here yesterday at �1.99 per pint could not be faulted - indeed, before sampling, the manager assured me that they cleaned the lines here after each barrel (just wish it were so in other Wetherspoon pubs!). Accordingly 17 pints of Hophead were thoroughly enjoyed by the three of us.
My suspicions that the Sunday roast at �6.49 might be like a school dinner were also laid to rest. The beef was nicely pink and of good quality with gravy served "on the side" - always my preference anyway. The roast potatoes were delicious (not leathery) with good Yorkshire pudding and firm garden peas. My only criticism was in relation to the combined carrots and broccoli vegetables which I did not finish as they were soggy and had an unpleasant smell.
Very good value for money though. Nice setting eating at one of the outside tables on the riverbank (restricted to diners). Hopefully standards will be maintained at this unique Wetherspoons pub/restaurant and we shall return.

2 Aug 2010 15:39

The Royal Oak, Borough

John will be no loss at all to the pub, but Frank definitely will be - hopefully Frank can take it over alone without John.

19 Jul 2010 15:34

The White Horse, Parsons Green

This is and has always been for past decades the discerning ale drinkers' predominant pub in London - as well as serving the best cider ever from the oldest living family cider maker in the UK (no - not in the west Country, but in Suffolk!) - Aspalls.
Please tell me also where in London will you ever be able to purchase a pint of the excellent Itchen Valley Godfathers at �2.70 per pint and especially in this salubrious area of SW London - let alone find it being served in any other pub in London! Also Harveys best bitter at �2.90 per pint - far cheaper than at any Harveys tied pub that I know (including The Royal Oak in Borough) - and I used to live near the brewery in Lewes! My own and other locals' favourite tipple, sometimes available here (but not often enough, despite what "Sharp" hereunder incorrectly states) is from Lancashire - the award- winning Moorhouse Black Cat. And I, in company with a lot of regulars here would hardly agree with "Sharp's"description hereunder (as with his opinion of the similar award-winning Godfathers) as being uninspiring real ales!
Fantastic unique American micro-brew ale festival this weekend - and I have tended to be the biggest sceptic of American ales in the past! Literally tons of American micro-brews imported at impossible logistics and cost - accordingly and understandably on offer at higher retail prices than UK brews ( but however mostly priced at not that much more than tasteless chemical lagers brewed under licence in the UK and dispensed under the pernicious "beer tie"!).
Especially looking forward to tomorrow afternoon when the exceptionally long established and talented international headline band of The SPIKEdrivers (USA) will be appearing here to enhance my enjoyment of Odells' Cutthroat Porter (5.1% ABV) amongst other unique USA micro-brews that we may sadly never see again in the foreseeable future in the UK and which are scarce even in the USA. Well done to all of the staff and management at The White Horse - yet another first. Sadly many people appear to be only too quick to complain ( and rightly so, if justified) but all too slow to praise! If anyone were to ever award a Michelin star to a pub for its food and drink then the first should be The White Horse on Parsons Green. Furthermore in this writer's opinion it is far more deserving of such an award for its food alone than the nearby over-hyped Harwood Arms - which I have personally tested in company who we unanimously found undeserving of such an award!

4 Jul 2010 02:00