Inn on the Park, Sutton

Official site of Inn on the Park - www.thegrumpymole.co.uk

Official site of Inn on the Park - www.thegrumpymole.co.uk

Barely functioning as a pub at all, despite a "bar menu." Just the two small tables in the entrance lobby were not laid up with starched linen and the full complement of glasses and cutlery as if for silver service. Not the sort of place you'd go for a pint and a ploughman's. These is a pump clipped for Pride but I dread to think what the throughput is. Carry on up the road half a mile to Cheam village and there's a good selection of far better places.

This is now essentially a restaurant (called The Grumpy Mole), with most tables laid for diners, although there was a handful of tables where drinkers were welcome to sit. This place is now unrecognisable from the basic pub that I visited last year. The main seating available is black plastic covered chairs, coupled with square wooden tables. Most of the other gastropub features are present as well, such as floral displays and bowls of nuts on the bar counter, and the black painted wine rack in the bar back. They also have arts and crafts printed blinds and curtains, giving it something of a retro look. A big plus here is the fairly large car park to the side of the pub. However they did have a couple of ales on – the ubiquitous London Pride, and Black Sheep Bitter (£3.75 a pint). I had a quick butcher’s at the menu, and was not surprised to see that pub grub was thin on the ground. Starters were in the £6 - £7 range, and main courses around £10 - £16. The bangers and mash was at the cheapest end of the range, at £9.95. This is not really the sort of place you would probably choose just to go for a drink (although if you’re a local you don’t have much in the way of alternative options), but it was quite busy with diners on Thursday afternoon and profits were probably much higher than on the same day when it was still The Bell. But I don’t expect to return, unless it’s with Mrs RR for a meal.

There’s not much to add to Maldenman’s review, although I did spot a bit of unusual decor behind the bar counter – a print of a dog (a terrier probably) done up in some sort of military regalia, complete with decorations. The significance escaped me I’m afraid, but I don’t mind unusual decor! I gather from others who know this pub that there has been an issue in the past concerning the availability of real ale, but there was no such problem when I visited the other evening, with both Doom Bar and Pride being available. Not the most exciting of selections, but certainly better than nothing. This struck me as a decent enough pub without being anything special, and certainly not the foody place I expected to find here.