Brooke, Clapham Common, SW4

Official site of Brooke - brookeclapham.com

Official site of Brooke - brookeclapham.com

Visited as 33 Abbeville Rd on 19/04/22. This is now quite different as an offering and layout. Ostensibly a dining venue, and that seemed to be the modus operandi of other people here there this evening. Maybe I am wrong and I just happen to be quickest on the draw in posting a drinking review on PG. Who knows? It is indeed a classy venue in SW4, entrance on RHS of frontage, greeted by a bar then along the left hand wall, with some seating around the bar and indeed outside, attractive on an average summer evening. RHS of the venue is a more formal dining area with tables laid for dining. There are six taps offering Guinness, Estrella, a lager called Victoria and a cider called Craft (!!) from a brewer called Bumblebee. Two taps from Siren dispensing Pastel Pils and Soundwave IPA. for me an easy choice opting for a glass of their top red, which was a Chianti Classico! This was my last unvisited (or at least as per PG) venue in SW4. Where next to focus on!

There's no real ale in here, but it meets CAMRA's criteria for a pub because although it's essentially a restaurant it does have a small bar area where you can buy a drink at the counter and it does have three keg taps. One of the three advertised Harviestoun Ridge which was off at the time of my visit, and the other two had on Harviestoun Schehallion Lager (£3 a half) and London Beer Factory Happy Daze. I didn't venture into the restaurant area on the right, but I did note they did bar snacks (e.g. fries £3.45), and small plates for £4.50 (e.g. clams, chorizo and samphire). I didn't spot any pub grub - but there again it's not really a pub. Desserts are £7.50. Happy hour is between 5 - 7, where cocktails are £6 and two bottles of the same beer are also £6. There are also several meal deals, such as on Thursday when two people ordering two courses get a carafe of house wine on the house as it were. The bar area has just four tall tables with tall stools. An archway at the back on the right takes you into the dining area where all tables are laid for diners of course, and there are some tables and chairs outside at the front on a decked area. This is not really somewhere to go for a quiet pint. It's main raison d'etre is as a restaurant and as I didn't eat can't really comment on the food.