The Falcon, SW11

I can't improve on the description provided by John Bonser below. When I visited, it wasn't too crowded, and I was able easily to get a seat by the old corner door where I whiled away the 40 minutes or so it took my fish and chips to arrive by chatting to an octogenarian local about his time in the RAF and about the changes in Clapham since WW2. The locals were very friendly, the staff reasonably competent and the ambiance calm despite it being a busy period. There were 5 ales on - I had a pint of Rooster which was a good pint, in excellent condition and served at the right temperature. Very handy for the station, and well worth stopping for refreshments before hitting London proper.

Update – June 2011 Pub has now re-opened following a minor refurbishment. The only really noticeable change is that the back area ( the area with the two coloured skylights ) has become a dedicated restaurant area. On my Saturday lunchtime visit, this area was fully laid out for diners with place mats, cutlery and wine glasses on every table. This had the unfortunate effect of pushing drinkers into the less characterful and cosy front bar. It will be interesting to see how this change develops – I wouldn’t have thought that they would get a lot in the way of food trade during the week, as there’s hardly any offices / suits in the area, unlike in the City of London Square Mile for instance. Pleasingly, the range of real ale sold – and the quality – remains impressive. Approx 12 beers were on, mainly sourced from the Nicholsons 2011 Summer Range and included Cropton Dragon Slayer, Titanic Centenary, Nethergate Umbel Ale, Mike Hall – Wanderer and Vale Black Beauty Porter. The Titanic beer was really good – worth sampling if you get the chance My overall opinion of this pub remains unchanged from my December 2009 review below – you should definitely pop in if the opportunity presents itself December 2009 review Large, imposing pub occupying a prominent corner position on a busy road junction just outside Clapham Junction station. Its impressively ornate Victorian interior, including much wood pannelling and coloured stained falcon - logo windows earn it a place in CAMRA's National Inventory of Unspoilt Interiors. Note also the mini-snug with wood and glass screens as you come in from the main entrance and the stained glass in the rear room with the skylights. It's a long continuous bar counter that serves round a huge central bar servery with a notable high bar back with etched mirrors. The bar counter serves a number of interconnecting drinking areas. The pub was acquired several years ago by Nicholsons whose restoration, including bringing in chandeliers, has brought out the best of the traditional interior. One dreads to think what the Wells and Youngs "sensitive refurbishment" brigade would have done to this splendid place! Prior to Nicholsons arrival, ordering a pint of real ale required a certain leap of faith - on occasions only the London Pride was on and quality left room for improvement. Real ale trade seemed to be negligible and the pub seemed to have more than its fair share of scallies. We now have a thriving pub with a broad customer mix. There's 3 separate banks of handpumps strategically situated around the bar with usually about 12 different real ales on offer. I've often thought that that's too many, but, in fairness, I've never had a pint that's below par. One of the difficulties is that staff serving at one bank of pumps never seem to know what the other pumps round the other side of the bar are offering and if - as I encountered the other day - you come in with a couple of friends and each wants a pint from a different bank of pumps, it becomes a bit of a nightmarish experience. The pub is listed in the CAMRA 2010 Good Beer Guide. On recent visits, I've had decent pints of Purity Amber Ale, Doom Bar, Harveys, amongst others. Being very close to a busy station like Clapham Junction means that the pub is invariably crowded, but it's streets ahead of your typical station pub and you should definitely pop in if you get the chance.

Currently closed for a refurb, hopefully a gentle one including a lick of paint. I believe the sign said reopening on 21st April. Nothing too extreme having looked through the window.