The Ravensbury, Mitcham

This used to be an Ember Inns pub, and although it is now rebranded as a Butcher and Barrel pub it still has some of the Ember characteristics. There are a fair number of red upholstered sofas and armchairs, some high stools/tables, but mostly normal tables and chairs – and the dividing shelves with vases and the like on them. Flooring is a mix of bare boards and tiling. There are wine racks in the bar back, jugs and bowls on top of it, and the potted plants dotted liberally about the room give the place the look of a drawing room. The building itself is a large stand-alone affair, right beside Mitcham golf course, and has a large garden to the side of it containing numerous picnic benches. There were five ales on during my visit – Wandle, Landlord, Pride, Doom Bar, and Skinner’s Betty Stogs. A sixth pump had a clip for Red Squirrel’s Red Tail reversed. The Betty Stogs was at a very competitive price of £2.85 a pint, but wasn’t in particularly good nick – possibly because I had the first one of the day. The barmaid had to work hard to get a full pint served, both for me and my chum who had the Landlord, as it was coming out very frothy. There is a separate dining room to the right of the bar area, but I didn’t see the menu, as we went for one of the daily lunch specials (roast of the day) which are available for a fiver between 12 noon and 6.00 PM. The chicken and veg was OK, but the roasties were chewy and soggy, as if they had been microwaved. Clearly a lot of effort has gone into getting the pub looking smart enough to be a destination pub for diners, as I would not have thought that there is sufficient housing nearby to have enough local regulars to make it a going concern. Although the ale and food wasn’t good on my one visit, I might have been unlucky, and would like to give it another crack of the whip sometime. In short, the jury’s still out as far as I’m concerned.