The Merchant, Battersea Rise, SW11

Another restaurant conversion on this row of premises along Battersea Rise, the Merchant was formerly a steakhouse called Dixie's before being converted into a large gastro pub in 2008. For a food led type of pub, the place has somehow managed to generate a bit of a drinking barn feel, thanks in part to the large open spaces within. You enter into a rather bland main bar area with the servery down the left hand side and a lower seating area opposite with plenty of benches and banquettes, most of which were occupied on a busy Saturday evening. Huge black and white pictures cover the end wall, but décor is otherwise fairly conspicuous by its absence. The servery has a basic dark wood counter and bar back with some rather contrived bits of detail and the ceiling has a nice patterned effect that is quite aesthetically pleasing. To the rear is a well screened space with banquette and low stool seating options, creating a much cosier spot which has been decorated accordingly with old paintings and photos. Further back there is another relatively non-descript space with lots of room and bare brick walls. A TV screen near the bar was showing a rugby league fixture, seemingly for the sole benefit of one of the bar team, whilst loud music played for the duration of my visit. There are three handpulls here which were dispensing Greene King IPA and Sambrooks Scrumdown, with the third pump unclipped. I had a pint of the Scrumdown which was a fairly unmemorable brew but served in perfectly good condition. The staff seemed quite well drilled but a bit distant and uninterested. A fair few people were eating, but I couldn't find a menu so I'm not sure whether it's well priced or not. This is a decent enough spot to come for a bite to eat and I was pleasantly surprised to find a couple of ales on the bar and in decent shape. The place was lacking any real character for my liking and I really could've been drinking in any large bar up and down the country. It might be worth a swift look in passing but there are better options nearby.

Found this to be a bit gloomy at night.Owned by the company who have the Florence brewpub so you can usually get their beer here but only Sambrookes -Battersea rye was on.Very good beer and in good condition.Seating outside for us smokers.

From the outside this doesn't look like the sort of establishment that would do decent beer, but I was pleasantly surprised as Tasty Beaver Beer (£1.90 a half), Sharp's Equinox and Gangly Ghoul were all available. The latter is brewed in Bury St Edmounds, so it must be a GK ersatz ale, but was not bad nonetheless. I was offered tasters, which is a big plus in my book. I didn't see a menu, but a large advert on one of the walls announced 25% off all food 12 - 4 Mon - Thurs, and a "Burger Me" Monday deal offering a burger, fries and drink for £10. I didn't bother to find out what drinks are included, but I wouldn't expect it to be anything that I would want to drink. The bar itself looks like a shop conversion (or more likely two shops judging by its size). The bar counter is on the left as you enter, with its immediate area furnished with a handful of tall tables/tall stools, and leading do another seating area at the back which had a projection screen TV on showing Sky Sports. There's another room down a couple of steps to the right of the room with the bar counter. This is slightly more traditionally furnished with some booths, banquettes, and small tables with little round stools accompanying them. One wall here was decorated with frames containing an assortment of tiles, and the ceiling appeared to covered with stainless steel. All quite odd, but harmless enough I suppose. Board games seem to be available with a number of them piled up on a shelf, but the games high spot here is the table football near the window. This is nothing like a traditional boozer, but I thought it was OK. It is not the sort of place that I would make a beeline for, but there are many worse places in this part of the world - and it did have three ales on.

Official pages at the Capital Pub Company site - www.capitalpubcompany.com

Official pages at the Capital Pub Company site - www.capitalpubcompany.com