Magic Garden, Battersea Park, SW11

I dropped in here on Saturday afternoon for a swift one, to find that the three handpumps had Cornish Coaster, Doom Bar and Sambrook Wandle clips reversed. Delivery problems according to the barman. A half of Birra Moretti set me back £2.60 as I recall. Menus attached to clipboards offered main course from £13.50 upwards - the Wagyu (??) burger is £15 - with bar snacks from £7 upwards - cauliflower fritters are £7.50. These prices aren't cheap, but this place is nothing like a gastropub. All the decor in here is in your face. The walls are painted lime green and cerise; floral branches are painted on some of the walls and ceilings; the odd bird is painted on the ceiling here and there; and even the piano's brightly painted. The furnishings are fairly traditional, but there is plenty of open space between them, suggesting that vertical drinking is often the norm, perhaps especially when they have live music on. As you would expect, there's a stage at the back, with purple or pink illuminated sofas on it reminiscent of a Parisian brothel - or rather what one might guess that a Parisian brothel might look like. The framed pictures of Jimi Hendrix are still there. There's a conservatory on the right, which in turn leads out to a nice garden. A sign on a chalkboard inside boasts "best outdoor space award 2014/15", and the "best London pub award 2011". I can't imagine who made these awards, but probably not someone who knew anything about London pubs. But despite all this, I quite liked this pub. I found it a bit - well a lot actually - unusual, but there's nothing wrong with something a bit different. But running out of beer isn't a good sign, to put it mildly. It's certainly not a destination pub, unless you're keen to enjoy a particular live music act, but a reasonable enough place to stop off for a swift one - unless, like me, you're unlucky enough to hit it on a no-beer day!