The Robin Hood, Sutton

Only been in here once, so far, but liked the place. Opening times vary, depending on the day. Will update this review after another visit or two.

This is a Young's Ram Pubco pub - so just Young's Special and Bitter on, the latter at a fairly reasonable £3.50 a pint. My pint of Bitter was in excellent condition. A board ooutside advertised food from 12.00 noon, but I didn't spot any menus around. This is a nice old pub that looks to have been extended into an adjoining property in years past. It's carpeted throughout, with just a single tall table with tall stools with banquettes and normal tables and chairs being the standard furnishings in the main bar area at the front. The original multi-room layout can be determined by the doors of course. There are a couple of nice vestibules with some good quality etched and cut glass still in situ, plus some stained glass panels in the upper sections of the windows. There were a handful of tables down at the back end which had tables laid for diners, but the rest of the pub was available for drinkers. I also saw a function room advertised; plus a sign said board games such as chess, dominoes, cribbage, etc were available, and decor on the walls was mainly photographs of old Sutton. This is a rather nice pub tucked away from the main busy areas of Sutton. I'm surprised that I haven't visited this one before, but I'm glad that I've now done so.

This is a large backstreet corner pub just off the town centre, L-shaped inside with a central bar and mostly regular seating. The overall feel is of a timewarp community pub, nothing at all wrong with that of course, there were the less often seen bowls of complimentary nuts on the bar, pork pies and sausage rolls under glass as well as a main menu, pub rather than gastropub prices, sandwiches £3.50, burgers £5.50-£6.50. The often bumped up in price rump steak, chips, salad and onion rings comes in at £8.50, I've seen that double that in many pubs. Décor has the usual B&W photos, a signed Sutton Utd shirt and scarf, there are a pair of tiled fireplaces and a number of retained leaded and stained glass windows. Carpeted and with mostly regular seating, banquettes around the perimeter walls. There is a bit of a garden to the rear. The TV was off on Friday afternoon, entertainment consisting of listening to a few old boys moaning about life in general or you could make use of the selection of board games, cards and reference books on a side table. A steady trickle of mainly older customers drifted in and out during my short stay, I reckon this is a well valued community local. It's a Young's house, Bitter, Special, new to me Blonde plus Bombardier. The Blonde tasted much like any other CW/Youngs beers do these days. I like to see pubs like this doing well, it seems to serve it's customer base well and the service was friendly too. A comfortable steady sort of place.

The Robin Hood always has been a nice little pub in the time that I've known it. Now Ken & Michele have moved on to pastures new, it's Adam's turn to put his stamp on it.. If he can keep the beer quality up to its usual standard, and keep churning out good value pub grub, then he's on to a winner. Personally, the Robin Hood loses a point for its decor with me - it's a lovely pub, but it feels *too* traditional.