The Common Room, Wimbledon Village

As a drinking venue, this may be ok, but the quality and price of the food is shocking.

You don�t expect great food in a pub. And you certainly don�t expect a bargain in Wimbledon Village.

Even with these low expectations, The Common Room really is terrible.

More than �3 for cheesy chips would be expensive if they were homemade and perfectly cooked � something that any place serving food should be able to manage. When they�re cheap oven chips with economy cheddar on, though, it really takes the biscuit. Presentation isn�t everything, but they were just thrown on a plate, as if this was a works canteen, not a trendy bar in one of the most expensive parts of London.

What else is on the menu? A �Chip butty� for six pounds. Assuming that you don�t get the cheese, that would leave you paying an extra three quid for buttered bread to go with your oven chips. What would be the cost of the ingredients in the dish? 20p? Hard as the cheesy chips were to stomach, the prices are worse.

The garlic bread was tasteless and clearly from a packet. The bruschetta with onions and mushrooms was sour and unpleasant. As with the chips, it was just carelessly dumped on a plate with no garnish or accompaniments.

In fact the only thing we ordered that showed any attention to detail was the falafel, which had been thoughtfully plated up with bagged salad. The falafel was edible, but clearly not homemade.

It all makes your local All Bar One seem like fine dining.

What is it with London pubs? No one expects them to have a real chef in the kitchen, but there�s something horribly cynical and shameless about the Common Room. With their outrageously high prices and thoughtless presentation they don�t even pretend that they care about the food they serve.

A scandal of a bar.

14 Aug 2006 12:17