The Cavern, Raynes Park, SW20

Pub SignMan left this review about The Cavern

This is a pretty unusual live music pub handily located just a couple of minutes from Raynes Park station. You enter through a fairly unremarkable porch into a terracotta tile floored room with exposed brick walls, dark ceiling, muted lighting and venetian blinds drawn in the front windows, creating a dark, but warm feel inside, ideal for live music. The servery is opposite the entrance and has a brick fronted counter, dark wood canopy lined with blackboards sporting illustrations of old beer brands and a guitar shaped Budweiser neon light sign, and a simple bar back with a cool Arrol's Pale Ale mirror as a centrepiece. A mix of low and high stool seating fills the space opposite, and there are a couple of banquettes to the front and left, including on a carpeted, raised seating area in one of the front corners. Moving past the right-hand end of the bar, the room runs back a short way, where a couple of pews can be found, although the presence of dog bowls and two pub dogs suggests the area is generally reserved for the pub's canine regulars. Walls have been decorated with loads of photos of musicians from the 60s and 70s, as well as guitars, gold discs, a pub mirror, an unused TV screen, various hats and a couple of drum kits perched above the porch and bar. To the front right is a stage for live music and the room is configured quite favourably for viewing, with just one obstructing pillar in the middle of the floor. Perhaps the room's most distinctive feature is the red phone box next to the entrance although music fans will get more milage from the tables with tickets and gig posters inlaid in their surfaces. Hard Rock tunes from the pub's core demographic era were playing in the background and there's a small patio garden out the front and compact games room with a pool table to the rear.
The pub has made it into recent editions of the Good Beer guide and had three cask options on the go when I arrived - Wainwright's Amber, Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold and Wimbledon Copperleaf at £5.70 a pint. The latter was in decent enough condition and whilst there were no other customers in on this mid-week, late afternoon visit, the pub dogs provided ample company.
I thought this was quite a quirky establishment that worked well enough as a pub and looked to be well set up for hosting the numerous live music nights that seem to be their bread and butter. This isn't a particularly well pubbed part of the city, so it's good to have a solid venue such as this to rely on - I'd happily return when next in the area.

Date of visit - 28th November 2024

On 10^th March 2025 - rating: 7
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