Fox & Grapes, Wimbledon Common, SW19

An attractive and traditional looking pub with a few leaded windows just off Wimbledon Common, it looks as though it’s a couple of buildings that have been knocked together at some point. Inside though, once you’ve struggled through the heavy curtain inside the doorway, it’s surprisingly contemporary and not at all what I had expected from the outside. It’s divided in to two halves, presumably as a result of the buildings’ differing history, with a central bar counter serving both halves. The right hand half has a high ceiling with skylights giving a light and airy feel and somehow seemed a little reminiscent of a village hall, whilst the left half is down a couple of steps and has a much lower ceiling clad with painted white boards. Décor throughout is much the same, with cream paintwork, a parquet wood floor, a small amount of dark wood panelling on the walls and some elegant light fittings. Wallpapered feature walls at either end provided something of a contrast, and there was a semi-open kitchen at the rear. In fact the food did tend to dominate somewhat, with virtually all tables being laid up for food, and pretty much all other punters dining except for a handful sat on stools at the bar. That, together with the fact that most of the diners had noisy toddlers in tow, gave the overall impression of a cross between a canteen and a kindergarten rather than your traditional pub. Beers on tap were Wimbledon Copper Leaf and London Pride, with a third pump for Wimbledon Common having apparently run out. The solitary cider was Symonds Founders Reserve. Overall, whilst there was nothing really wrong with this pub, and I can see that if you’ve a bunch of kids and want to get something to eat then it’s probably a great choice, but it didn’t really do it for me unfortunately.

One of Oliver Reeds Wimbledon 8 and now a Gastro-pub. Would not come again. Its not for drinkers. More info at my blog - http://bit.ly/1Tf0AGO

This pub re-opened last week following a closure of a few months in order to effect a major refurbishment. It’s now very much food led, with all but a couple of tables laid for diners. Indeed almost all tables were actually occupied by diners when I was in there at around 2.30 PM on Friday, demonstrating that it is likely to remain a successful business. There were three or four white-shirted black-aproned waitresses rushing around the place waiting on tables. I sat at one of the tables not set for diners, and didn’t see a menu. They did have three ales on – HBB; Black Sheep Bitter; and Sharp’s Doom Bar. I had the latter, served at about 3/4” short of the top of the glass, a little too cold, and at £3.60 a pint. This is a gastro pub price, even if the owner insists that this is not a gastro pub. The structure of the pub remains largely unchanged, except that the previous Caesar’s Bar on the left has been opened up, with the removal of the bar counter in that room. Flooring is now modern replacement bare boards, and walls are painted light pastel shades. There is a large wagon wheel by the window in the narrow area between the two rooms, but other than that I didn’t spot any decor worth mentioning. The pub sign now has the grapes out of the fox’s reach, thus re-establishing the link with Aesop’s fable. Rather surprisingly for somewhere like this, it appeared to be dog friendly, as a couple of chaps came in with their dogs for a drink at the bar, with one of the waitresses producing a bowl of water for the dogs. Nonetheless, for me this now seems to be more of a restaurant than a pub. This view was reinforced when a couple of the waitresses with no more pressing duties stationed themselves in the room in an attentive manner to see to any requirements that the diners might have. But most of the time there was just too much hustle and bustle and rushing around to be really comfortable just sitting and enjoying a quiet pint. In future I’ll probably give this place a miss unless I want to have a meal as well as a drink.