The Landor, SW9

This is a late 19th century pub, cited on CAMRA’s list of pubs with historic interiors, this being of Some Regional Importance, that importance being displayed in a photo on CAMRA’s site, augmented with those on the pub’s. The exterior exhibits some fine Truman’s lanterns along with their ‘eagle’ motif repeated six times to the fascia, but it’s the bar back that’s the star of the show here. Otherwise, it’s as described below, with mismatched furniture and trustafarian, young, drunk, exuberant Stockwellians, who can also be seen on the pub’s site, on my visit many wearing England kit. The England v. USA match had finished about half an hour earlier and people were still leaving on – hopefully not because of – my arrival. The multiple TVs were still on though, affording us the pure unalloyed joy of watching Ant and Dec, thankfully with the sound off, so as not to compete with incredibly loud music. The ale front amounted to an unused pump, then just Doom and a very average Tribute, at a very pricey £2.80 a half, served by a lovely barmaid who looked like a young Illeana Douglas. This pub is probably better at a quieter time, ideally not after an England match, but as I live nowhere near, I don’t envisage a return visit. Rated 4.5

Could be worse, could be better. One room with bar in the middle, pool table and TV to right. Three hand pumps, one reversed. Other two Doombore and Sharps Atlantic. Will not be returning.

Official site of The Landor - www.thelandorpub.com

Official site of The Landor - www.thelandorpub.com

The Landor is an imposing building that advertises itself as a pub, garden and theatre. The interior consists of an L shaped bar with seating up the left hand side and around the back of the bar at the rear. To the right are a pool table and a projector screen for showing live sport via Sky Sports. There is a quiz that starts at 20:00 on the first Sunday of each month. Available from the bar during my visit early on a recent Saturday evening were Sharp’s Doom Bar, Otter Brewery’s Amber and Adnam’s Southwold Bitter alongside a premium keg range. The kitchen is open all day and the cheapest main on the menu is smoked cheddar and ham hock croque monsieur (a posh sandwich) for £9. A major draw to this pub, especially in the summer months, is the large picnic table lined beer garden at the rear. This is enclosed with covered seating on decking around the exterior walls. This area was heaving with young affluent Claphamites during my visit. I had an enjoyable stay and would have no problem with returning.

Here they had on Doom Bar, Woodford Wherry (£2 a half), with a Timothy Taylor Golden Best clip reversed on the third pump. There were no menus on the tables when I was in at mid-afternoon on Wednesday, but there were little trugs on the tables bearing the usual condiments, and later on I spotted a chalkboard on one of the walls advertising some food. The food didn’t look terribly traditional to me – they offered something called “brite de meaux on date and walnut bread” at £7.50 – plus cheeseboards at £7.95 for one or two people, and £12.95 for three or four people, or charcuterie plates at £12 or £24. This is an old pub that has been completely opened up although the (mainly unused) doors to the street, including one still signed to the Saloon Bar, show how it was once divided up. The most notable feature here is is the excellent carved mahogany bar back, unfortunately obscured by the national flags for Brazil and England. The furnishings are well worn wooden tables, coupled with hard wood normal chairs. This is traditional enough, but a bit of upholstery wouldn’t go amiss, especially to reduce the noise levels at busier times, as of course there is no carpet here. A pool table is on the right, and there was some pop music playing. This is advertised as a theatre, but I didn’t spot any flyers for forthcoming performancs in the main bar, nor did I investigate the theatre itself. This is an old Victorian pub that still retains one or two interesting features. The ale choice is OK if not overly inspiring, and the Wherry I had was alright without being in tip top condition. But it’s good to see these old pubs surviving, even if they have to re-invent themselves to do it. I expect to be in this pub again before too long.

Good looking gastropub with the usual mismatched brown furniture.Nice wooden gantry and a decent beer garden.Liked the feel of this pub.Three handpumps with Doombar and Otter-amber.Some original Trumans lamps outside.

Randomness Guide to London - Landor entry