The Nightingale, Balham, SW12

This is a Young’s house, but as well as the usual range they had on Sambrook’s Wandle and Butcombe Bitter. The Butcombe Bitter was superb, but at the not so superb price of £3.40 a pint. It seems that this week (13 – 17 Sep) they’re have a “British week”, with “British food specials” being served, and Young’s Bitter at £2 a pint. The Bitter is confusingly referred to as “Young’s PA Bitter”, a term which I had not seen before, and does not appear on the pump clip. But not to worry. The British week is followed immediately by a beer festival from 18 Sep to 3 Oct. The pub itself, like so many, clearly has roots as an old fashioned boozer (note the date of 1853 on the outside wall), and still retains the basic character of a traditional pub. As you enter, the main bar area on the left is carpeted and furnished with normal tables and chairs, and the smaller bar area on the right, which looks as if it might have been the public bar in a previous incarnation, is bare boarded with banquettes and more normal tables and chairs. The walls are covered with masses of decor, including numerous prints, and the giant sized cheque to which a previous reviewer has referred. In keeping with British week, there are Union Flags all over the places, plus pictures of beefeaters, Tower Bridge, and St Stephen’s Tower (referred to as Big Ben if you’re a tourist). To be a honest I don’t think all the British stuff adds to the appearance of the pub, but that’s just my opinion, and in case I guess that it’s just temporary. I had a warm welcome form the barmaid, Joanie, which made me feel welcome even if it was only my first visit. This is the sort of honest, clean, comfortable yet unpretentious pub that I really like, and to which I should love to pay a return visit.

Randomness Guide to London - Nightingale entry

Randomness Guide to London - Nightingale entry

This is a decent Young’s pub that had four of their ales available along with Bombardier and a selection of standard and premium products during my visit before Christmas. I found the staff to be very friendly and the locals harmless. There were too many people eating for my liking, but there was a Christmas party in attendance so maybe the number of diners is not normally so large. There is a dartboard at the front of the pub where the bar is very narrow, but there is plenty of standing space and seating at the rear where the pub opens up. There is also a good sized well kept beer garden out the back that I’d imagine being nice in the summer. The plasma screen was off and I spotted no sport advertisements and I cannot remember any background music being played. However, I did spot a lot of photos of past charity events on a back wall and an admirable cheque of £425,000 highlighting the monies raised by the pub for various charities since 1979. I’m not the biggest Youngs fan, but the Guinness was good and I liked it in here so would gladly return.