Three Falcons, St John's Wood, NW8

This pub dates from the late 19th century, but was rebuilt in the 1920s as part of the local authority housing block, the current name arriving in 2019, for reasons unknown. Until this name change, the pub was on CAMRA’s list of pubs with historically important interiors, this being of National Importance, but with a change of name comes a change of interior, this now being delisted, otherwise described as Interior Ruined. A first into this backstreet venue the other night, to what describes itself as an ‘Indian gastropub’. I shan’t bother describing the interior, as it’s well covered on their website, suffice to say it does indeed look like an Indian restaurant, along with sitar music and much wailing vocals; what you don’t get in an Indian restaurant though, are the TVs showing the football, no-one watching. Customers were mixed, clearly including some of the hotel guests above, along with families and bored couples, more interested in gazing at phone screens rather than into each other’s eyes; also spotted was an older local, sitting alone at the bar, no doubt the only remaining item of original heritage. There were two unused pumps, then fizz founts, me plumping for a half of Neck Oil (£3.00) served by a friendly barman in a turban. This really is now just an Indian restaurant around a central bar beneath a 23-room hotel. However, where other Indian restaurants fare better is that they don’t show sport at the same time. Either way, I’d really no longer describe this place as a ‘pub’.

Facebook page of Three Falcons - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Three Falcons - www.facebook.com

Official site of The Richmond Arms - threefalcons.com

Official site of The Richmond Arms - threefalcons.com