The Racehorse, Carshalton

On entering this pub, visitors find themselves in a small porch with a colourful mosaic floor, with a choice of two doors, each leading to a separate room served by the same central bar. To the left is a traditional feeling room with plenty of exposed beams, some upholstered banquettes, a large fireplace with an assortment of tankards on the mantle and numerous pictures of various racehorses. The room to the right is a more functional affair, with half pine panelled walls, standard tables and chairs, a dartboard, book exchange and a plasma TV, which was turned off on my late afternoon visit. The radio was playing at a suitable level. There were four ales available - GK IPA, Sharp's Doom Bar plus a couple from the Acorn Brewery - Blonde (£3.00) and Motueka IPA. My pint of Acorn Blonde was served by a friendly enough barman and was in good condition. Food is usually available at lunchtime and in the evening, but unfortunately I arrived a little too late to try it, although the barman did offer to make me a sandwich. I thought it was a nice, clean and welcoming pub and was a little surprised to find the Acorn beers. The place seemed to lack a bit of atmosphere, but I guess I wasn't there at the busiest time of day. I'd probably return and would certainly include it in a Carshalton crawl, but I find that the Hope is a more complete pub and would most likely spend my time there instead.

Randomness Guide to London - Racehorse entry

Randomness Guide to London - Racehorse entry

This is still a pub with two separate rooms, with a classic inter-war pub entrance consisting of a vestibule of sorts as you enter, with what I would guess to be the Saloon Bar through an internal door on the left, and the Public Bar through a door on the right. But I didn’t spot any signage to support that. The “Public” bar has light pine coloured furnishings, and is well described by Maldenman below. The “Saloon” bar’s furnishings are darker in colour and consist of a very simple and traditional mix of banquettes and normal tables and chairs; and is carpeted. This room had an attractive fireplace that didn’t look as if it had seen any recent use; a piano; and numerous prints, some equine related of course, on the walls. There were also some rather nice steins on the mantelpiece over the fireplace, as well as horse-brasses on the sides of the fireplace. The food menu was on a chalkboard next to the kitchen entrance, featuring such items as Thai green curry and jasmine rice at £9.95, and Barnsley chop with mint jus (presumably some foreign relation of mint sauce) and new potatoes at £11.95. It looked to me a strange mix of a traditional pub saloon bar and foody gastro menu. There were four ales on in the saloon bar (I didn’t notice whether there were any more ales in the public bar) – GKIPA; Doom Bar; Hobgoblin; and Brain’s SA. I had the SA, which was OK and £3.00 a pint. This is a decent enough pub, and would be well placed in a Carshalton crawl. I doubt whether I would make this pub my lunch stop, but would be happy enough to drop in for another pint sometime.

Two rooms, lounge style bar to the left on entry, and a saloon/vault to the right with a busy dartboard. The lounge has stucco white walls and dark timbers, a bit 70's really, beamed ceiling, and lots of small tables arranged in lines restaurant style. Food seems important, although no one eating at 4pm, the fish menu looks good. The high shelf around the room contains literally hundreds of beer bottles. A slightly raised area has a stand up piano. The fireplace has a row of books along its mantle, and the pub advertises a book exchange scheme, a nice idea. Loads of horse/racing pics as per the name. 4 handpumps, Bowman Quiver, Courage Best and GK IPA, one unused but according to the guv will generally have another guest. Not a bad spot, but has serious competition from The Hope across the road.