The Pig's Head, Clapham, SW4

Again, dating from at least the 1820s though probably rebuilt much later, this was originally the Bull’s Head, formally a Taylor Walker house. The interior is quite striking, not just because it’s substantially trendified with a raised dedicated dining section to the rear, but because it has a rather spectacular mid-section high vaulted skylight. The bare floor is polished, walls are white or bare brick with grey wainscoting, furniture is chunky with large tables, décor in the form of potted palms – some on racks – and pretentious empty gilded picture frames. Customers were young professionals, most seemingly all having eaten, the pub boasting that it’s ‘…an independent, farm-to-fork pub...a passionate bunch, and our mission is simple; to be the best pub in Clapham and the most sustainable pub in the UK. We were certified carbon neutral in April 2023 and shortlisted for the Most Sustainable Business at the 2023 Catey Awards (the hospitality ‘Oscars’ no less). We have our own organic kitchen garden in Kent and work primarily with regenerative farms to buy whole native-breed animals that we butcher on-site to ensure the food on our guest’s plates is as good and as sustainable as it is possible to get’; so there you have it then. Customers were affluent older professionals and with all the chatter and hard surfaces, acoustics were terrible. An inorganic cask choice amounted to just two unused pumps then Sussex Best at £2.85 a half and lacking in condition, served by a friendly barman. This place is better than the Old Town Tavern, but not as good as the Prince of Wales over the way; a more imaginative and better conditioned cask choice as well as deadening the noise would get the score up.

Official site of The Pig's Head - thepigshead.com

Official site of The Pig's Head - thepigshead.com

Long pub with bar to right middle. Four hand pumps but only one weak real ale on offer. Some strong keg; however. Noisy wailing children put me off this place.

There were only two other customers when I popped in to the Calf of Clapham at around 14:00 on a recent Saturday afternoon. To the right of the entrance are a couple of high tables the sit under the front windows. The bar on the right wall has an added food preparation area on the end and it faces some couches and tables that run up the left hand wall. At the rear some steps lead up to another seating area that adds to the large open plan interior. During my visit the plasma screen was turned off in favour of come background music. There is quiz every Monday from 20:00 and live jazz was advertised for the upcoming Friday evening. A premium keg range was available from the bar that supports four hand pumps. Timothy Taylor’s Landlord was off, as was another, leaving Thwaites’ Wainwright and Sharp’s Doom Bar as the cask ale options. The only food I saw advertised were things like chicken wings, although there was a dog treat jar on the bar. This pub is very dog friendly, as the photos on a cork board by the entrance of some four legged locals profess. Children are also welcome to visit. To be honest I’m not a massive fan of these open plan distressed looking pubs and I can imagine a smell of cooking fat when the small kitchen area at the end of the bar is in use. However, I found the barmaid on duty to be extremely friendly and I had a decent pint.