The Antelope, Tooting, SW17

This pub has been well described by others, and I won’t repeat what they’ve said. It’s most definitely a much better pub under the Antic branding than when it was a Jack Beard pub. The main bar area has a most unusual and attractive latticed parquet flooring, and with the large room at the back on the left having the more traditional herringbone parquet flooring. Certainly the parquet flooring in the main bar would benefit from being properly cleaned to bring out the natural colours of the wood. When I was in late afternoon/early evening on Friday it was starting to get quite busy with a young crowd coming in. The music was being played far too loudly in my opinion, forcing customers to shout to make themselves heard. The noise levels were not helped by the fact that this is a high ceilinged pub with no carpets on the floors, although there is little that Antic can do about the structure of the pub, and it would be a shame to cover the wooden flooring with carpeting. The sort of ale selection when I was in was as good as that experienced by other reviewers. There were six ales on handpump, with none from the usual suspects, plus something called Crazy Goat which is apparently a 6.8% cider/perry blend. A had a couple of superb pints of East London Brewery’s Foundation Bitter (£3.30 a pint) which was a new beer for me. I didn’t look at the restaurant menu, but there was a bar snacks menu advertised, consisting mainly of a few tapas items, plus what looked like a standard ploughman’s at £4.50. This is only the second Antic pub I’ve visited, and in both I’ve been impressed by the ale selection. I would be happy to visit this one again.

This is a large pub in Tooting’s main shopping thoroughfare. By the front door, a notice listing opening hours tells us that we’re about to enter a “proper pub where all are welcome ‘cept bigots and bandits and those that cause bother”. Central doors lead into a large horseshoe shaped bar with what looks like an original bar back down the middle. Illuminated lettering on the bar counter towards the back denoting “Barclays Beers” tells us that this was presumably a Barclay Perkins pub long ago. High ceilings and a curved glass frontage indicate that this is probably a late Victorian pub. The front part has been done up in a rather gastropubby style with original wood panelling painted dark green, clipboard menus on each table and the usual mixture of sofas and wooden tables and chairs. On the right hand side, an area of the wall is painted a noticeable bright green and features a collection of hanging plates. Beyond the main bar area at the back on the left is the open kitchen which serves a dedicated wood panelled restaurant area. Opposite this is an impressively large high ceilinged wood panelled room with something of a function room feel to it. In here is a snooker table and, on my recent Sunday visit, a drop down TV screen was showing the West Ham v Cardiff game at a muted volume. In one corner is a stage and an old style moveable screen refers to “The Broadway Comedy Club”, but I didn’t see any posters anywhere advertising forthcoming performances, so these might have been discontinued. Also notable in this room is a collection of antelope heads. 7 handpumps were serving Adnams Lighthouse, Gunhill, St Austells Tribute, UBU Purity Gold Ale and Palace Blonde Ale. The latter – 4.2% - a beer that I’ve not come across before, is described on the pumpclip as “The Official Crystal Palace F C Ale” and is “crafted for fans”. It’s brewed by Neil Morrissey ( of Fox – Morrissey fame ) who is apparently a Palace fan. I went for the Purity Gold - an excellent tasty pint, but, at a price of £ 3.40p for a beer of 3.8% ABV, it could be considered to be a bit on the pricey side. A sign on the bar says “Sorry, we don’t sell Stella” but then adds as an afterthought “we’re not sorry really”. Several Meantime keg beers are offered as is Cerveja Sabres lager. The pub is listed in the 2011 CAMRA Good Beer Guide. It appears to be part of the Antic Pub Collective, a small group of London pubs that featured in a London Drinker article in June / July 2011. I was pleasantly surprised by this pub. The front area with the bar counter is clearly designed to attract a youngish 30-40 something urban professional crowd, but there’s enough overall to please the traditional pub lover. It’s not quite what you’d expect for a rather edgy area of Sarf Lunnon and I’d happily call in again if the opportunity presented itself. Finally, note that it doesn’t open until 4pm from Mondays to Fridays.

The Antelope is considerably larger than it first appears on entering, the front door leads you into a decent sized room with a central horseshoe bar, but exploration beyond leads to a room at the back set for dining but with another again sizeable room to the left with a pool table, large screen TV showing the play off football final and a corner stage. Beyond is a paved outdoor area. Lots of sofas and armchairs as well as normal seating in the main bar, part stone and part inlaid wooden floor, lots of grey paint, green walls and hanging plates. It's a trendied up pub there is no doubt but it was previously a Jack Beards with some reputation so c'est la vie. Decor includes some odd furniture, similar to The Wheatsheaf at nearby Tooting Bec. A good selection of drinks, seven handpumps directly opposite the door, Adnams Lighthouse and Regatta, Pride, Purity Ubu, Brains SA, Trumans Runner and Spitfire plus a table menu of mainly bottled Belgian beers. Clipboard food menus with decent looking fare, not too unreasonably priced if the quality is to be believed. Choice of a jug or straight glass offered. A sign said "We don't sell Stella and we're not sorry". Excellent stuff! A good bluesy background soundtrack (Black Keys I think). A vibrant and somewhat trendy/boho vibe but I reckon the different areas will suit most people and I liked it here. I reckon its another welcome addition to Tooting's improving pub selection.