Fox & Hounds, Battersea, SW11

The exterior of the Fox and Hounds shouts “proper London boozer”, but unfortunately at some point a gastro makeover has taken place. Characterless décor, thick wooden tables and Michelin Food Guide stickers in the door. The bar faces open plan seating and some steps to the left lead down to another couple of seating areas. During my recent Saturday afternoon visit there were ten or so people present, all but one was eating. The open kitchen is visible behind the bar that supports premium keg products and four hand pumps. These were drawing Adnams Ghost Ship and Lighthouse alongside St Austell’s Tribute and Spring Fever. I went for half a Peroni which set me back £2.80 for a half. There was some background music playing and the lone television screen was switched off. I spotted a sign for the beer garden so I decided to investigate through a door to the left rear next to the gent’s toilet. I was happy to find a surprisingly large beer garden full of picnic tables down some steep steps. A jumbrella is available to shelter from the sun and rain when necessary. I found the staff to be rude and I was challenged in an accusatory tone when I dared to have a nose around before ordering. When I did order there were no pleasantries from the barman/manager. This was my first visit to a London pub for a few months so maybe I have been spoilt and forgotten that manners are few and far between in the big smoke.

I seem to like this place a bit more than previous viewers but that may be that I have visited on early evening after work hours when the food service has not been going and the crowd who were in were just for the beers. The beer selection has been pretty good for me as well with all four pumps in operation on the last visit with Sambrook's Junction, Twickenham Red Head and Hogsback Hop Garden Gold alongside St Austell Tribute. The beers have been on good form and I usually manage to get a table in the lower snug section away from the noise of the main open plan room.

Situated on a street corner, the pub has an attractive exterior with flowering baskets and the pub name picked out in red lettering on a front gable, and on entering you can't help but notice the plethora of window stickers from food guides which quickly prepare you for what lies within. Very food led, the place was chock-a-block with mainly mid 30 somethings, many with a young sprog in tow, tucking into the Mediterranean/Italian influenced menu. Tables are fairly packed in and have that modern fad of carefully mismatched chairs as well as candles and wine lists on top. The upmarket menu is on a chalkboard on a side wall while another above the bar lists an extensive selection of wines and fizz. The pub itself is how you'd expect somewhere like this to be, boarded flooring, red lower walls and ceiling with white upper walls, plain square bar off centre to the rear behind which there is the open kitchen/servery. There is a smaller area down a few stairs to the front corner with another tiny snug-like spot leading off this but these areas were full too so I had to grab a spot amongst the diners in the main room. The beer selection however was pretty good, Two Cocks 1643 Leveller Bitter (£4.00 3.8%), Sambrook's Pumphouse Pale Ale and Powerhouse Porter and St Austell Tribute. I also noticed a Chimay beer on one of the fonts. Décor has possibly improved, there are pub mirrors from Bass and Trumans and framed advertisement posters for milk and Guinness, the small lower room had a bullfight poster. The corner TV was off while music played slightly louder than necessary. The ambience was however improved by the self-assured pub cat meandering between the tables probably hoping to discover a dropped morsel or two. I enjoyed my pint but I never feel fully comfortable in these type of places, however I must stress that there was no hint of a suggestion that drinkers were not welcome, in fact I smiled to myself on seeing the old boy and his wife sat in the corner, him with his half and whisky chaser, her with a glass of stout. They've probably been going in the pub for 40 years and have no intention of being moved on. Excellent stuff!

Located down one of the many side streets off Lavender Hill, the Fox and Hounds is a Victorian street corner pub which has firmly embraced the gastro concept. The main room is a fairly large U-shape with the bar at the rear centre. There is a lot of dark wood throughout including floorboards, furniture and the half panelled walls, all of which combined with the muted lighting to create a rather gloomy environment, making it virtually impossible to read my paper and presumably quite tricky for others to see what they were eating. There is a lot of standard seating throughout the room, perhaps to maximise places for diners, of which there were a great many on my Saturday evening visit. A second room on a lower level has a few more tables and is a bit more secluded from the general hubbub of the main room, but this area was full on my visit, so I had to reluctantly take a seat amongst the diners, near to the back door that led out to an attractive walled garden. The menu, which I believe is Mediterranean themed, was detailed on a large blackboard on the wall to the left of the bar, whilst a decent wine list was also provided on a blackboard above the servery. Four hand pumps offered Sharps Red Ale (£3.60), St Austell Tribute and Sambrooks Wandle, with the last pump unclipped. The Red Ale was in decent enough condition, but not really to my taste. This pub is proud of its gastro approach and I get the impression that they do it very well, but a Saturday evening visit for a quiet pint is not something I would really recommend and I was happy to drink up quickly and move elsewhere. That said, I wouldn’t entirely rule out a return visit and would probably want to try the food to see it at its best.