The Coach & Horses, Clapham, SW4

Formerly a Mann, Crossman & Paulin’s house, this is a mid-19th century pub at least, the pretty ground floor green glazed tiles arriving when the pub was rebuilt around the 1920s. An aged, boarded interior lay beneath bare brick and white or smoky grey paint then an egg yolk yellow Anaglypta ceiling. Furniture is mixed though conventional, hanging filament lights, flags and a looped bass soundtrack by way of muzak, lapped up by a young trendy crowd. Cask amounted to a Purity Gold clip flying at half mast, a half of Signature Brewing’s Backstage, crafty, chilly, juicy and pricey at £3.30 a half. This isn’t a great place, the King & Co across the road being the favoured option.

Official site of The Coach & Horses - frontierpubs.co.uk

Official site of The Coach & Horses - frontierpubs.co.uk

No longer run down but smart,clean tidy one room pub with a central bar. No cask beer but 10 craft keg beers from Beavertown,Brixton,Mondo,Redchurch.Bbno Otley etc. Sunday night quiz on my visit.Couldnt understand the questions never mind answer them.

Surprisingly run-down boozer with a scattering of basic furniture around the 'U'-shaped bar. Also has a fair-sized, partially covered, front patio terrace. An Irish sports channel was showing football on several TVs and a large screen. More interesting were the old black & white photographs showing the pub's staff and customers (and presumably the owners and their family) in days gone by. Given appearances, the 'cash only' sign was no surprise, as was the lack of real ale from the four apparently disused handpumps (although two did at least have reversed clips). Opted for the Meantime London Pale Ale (£3.90), the most inviting of the keg offerings. Definitely gone to the dogs, this one, but let's hope just temporarily...

Four handpumps on the bar – one unused apparently, one with a clip reversed and the others dispensing Sambrook’s Wandle and Otter Ale (£3.40 a pint). The Otter Ale is a really good brown bitter and was in superb condition here. I was in here on Sunday lunchtime and of course food was available. The Sunday roasts were £9.95 a go. Otherwise the menu didn’t really go in for pub grub – the nearest to it is the “chicken and mushroom pie served with parsley mash” at £8. There was a chalkboard on the wall advertising a few specials of the day – e.g. grilled salmon, rocket, and tomatoes for £7.95. The exterior of the pub looks the part, retaining the attractive green tiled facing typical of the traditional pub. But there’s nothing traditional about the interior. It’s bare-boarded, with a central island bar having been completely opened up. The furnishings are a mixture of differing shape and size well worn tables, and a variety of different design chairs. No problem with that as far as I’m concerned, especially as there are no tall tables and sofas. As is usual with sort of madeover places, the wall decor is minimal with just three chalkboards giving the wine list, the forthcoming football matches to be screened, and the daily specials board. There are two large pull down screens on each side and to the rear of the bar counter, both showing the same (muted sports channel), and some jazz was being played not too loudly. Free wi-fi is advertised. There’s nothing very special about this pub, but I enjoyed the (fairly) quiet hour or so I spent in here with my excellent pint of Otter Ale. I guess it’s something of a cross between a gastropub and a football pub - a strange combination but it seems to work here. I wouldn’t mind dropping in here for another pint sometime, but I imaging that it would get fairly noisy when it’s busy.

This a decent looking pub i thought was closed untill i tried the door the barman said the lights was'nt working,this is a one roomed pub with the bar in the middle of it there were four pumps on the bar but only one beer on this was Sambrooks Wandel which was a very good drink i quite enjoyed sitting next to the fire as it was a very cold day not a bad pub at all.