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The Falcon, SW11

2 St Johns Hill
SW11
SW11 1RU
Phone: 02072282076

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Pub Type

Nicholsons (Mitchells & Butlers)
Page: 1 2 3

Reviews (Current Rating Average: of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Tris C left this review about The Falcon

A first in here last night into what is a CAMRA National Inventory pub. Probably one of the most beautiful in London and at 125ft, it boasts the world' longest bar, according to an info gobbit on a wall, confirmed - so it says - by the Guinness Book of Records; seductively curvaceous, it was also designed by M. C. Escher.
The finery is just too overwhelming to document, but worth a mention are the huge inverted Art Nouveau 'domes' descending from the ceiling. As usual, the photos on CAMRA's site don't do the place justice, focussing on the base of doors, rather than the actual interior. Also worthy of mention, is the multitude of megavision TVs showing the footie, which on inspection, not one person was watching. The sound was off, so as not to compete with the rather loud music; a games machine flashed in the corner. Customers are young and a bit laddish, though I did spot one or two young women.
Bar staff were listless, serving up Sussex Best (coming soon), Doom, Nicholson's Pale and Wainwright's Golden Beer (£4.85) and in good shape. Jägerbombs are just £3.00 for 12!
This is a beautiful must-visit pub, but as an experience it's really quite poor, due to all the electronic entertainment. My advice is to visit, buy a pint, do a lap of the Nürburgring - sorry, bar - you'll have enought time, then go on to pastures new.

On 7th October 2021 - rating: 8
[User has posted 1956 recommendations about 1923 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


hondo . left this review about The Falcon

Nicholson’s corner pub that retains its old exterior with a nice old central bar.

On 10th October 2019 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Philip Carter left this review about The Falcon

Don't get me wrong,this is a great pub for real ale drinkers but the prices are too high. They may say transport costs are high, but a pint of Wandsworth Common for £4.40 is too much, seeing as it is only 3.7%. Went up to the Junction and a pint of ale at 4.2% was £4.35. I hope the brewers don't get ripped off.

On 27th July 2017 - rating: 6
[User has posted 757 recommendations about 720 pubs]


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Alan Winfield left this review about The Falcon

The Falcon is a large corner pub that is very handy for Clapham Junction station.
Once inside there is a large curved bar facing,there are lots of tall tables and chairs,this area was packed on my Saturday afternoon visit with people watching the rugby,there is a separate area to the rear and right which was quieter,this room was oblong shaped and had normal tables and chairs.
There was a very good choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Oakham Scarlet Macaw,which was a very nice drink,i only noted a few other real ales,Sambrooks Wandle,Hogs Back TEA,Fyne Ales Jarl,Purity Mad Goose,Adnams Ghost Ship,St Austell Tribute,Robinsons Trooper and London Pride,there may have been a few i missed on taking notes of.
I thought this was a very good pub that i would have enjoyed more if it was not so busy.

Pub visited 18/3/2017

On 4th June 2017 - rating: 8
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Real Ale Ray left this review about The Falcon

Agree with Malden Man below, plastic glasses would send me straight out the door. The pub was busy on our visit, mostly due to the large collection of blokes meeting for a stag weekend, Nethertheless service was good and we were lucky to get the snug to ourselves. This tiny snug situated at the far end of the bar had some fine examples of etched glass and some nice leather buttoned armchairs and copper topped tables. There was also a narrow gap in the glass partition to enter the rear room, obviously people of yester year were a lot slimmer.
The front bar section consisted of a low slung oak bar counter with 12 handpumps. The seating area along the front windows consisted of square shaped butchers blocks, used as tables and some high stools.
Other features around the pub included large ornate columns supporting the upper floor, two large artdeco glass ceiling domes and a fine collection of large brass chanderliers throughout. I went for the Sharps Two Tides on a special offer for £3 a pint, which was ok. This pub is a fine example of Camra's Inventory of Historical Interiors.

On 3rd April 2017 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3378 recommendations about 3378 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Malden man left this review about The Falcon

Another poor experience today, entered to find a decent looking selection, approached by an Eastern European barmaid clutching a plastic glass with condensation inside the material, assume due to hairline cracks. I asked why she was holding this and if she actually intended serving me a drink in this. She affirmed and said only plastic today. Why? Are they actually allowed to reuse plastic? Saturday afternoon, no local sports events. Walked out. This place has lost the plot for me. Massive reduction in points.

On 28th May 2016 - rating: 4
[User has posted 1707 recommendations about 1681 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Falcon

A fascinating heritage interior, with the main room running along most of the frontage and around the corner, plus another seating area by the side door, a comfortable back room and a glazed-screen snug - all set around an impressive island bar. Various banks of handpumps distributed around the sub-divided segments of the central servery, although the ones at the rear have now been removed and replaced by a low screen. Nevertheless, there is usually still an excellent selection of real ales - such as my pint of Backyard Dandelion & Burdock Porter - available.

On 5th July 2015 - rating: 8
[User has posted 8066 recommendations about 8066 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


john gray left this review about The Falcon

The last poster may have been unlucky with his timing of visit as it closed for refurb on 20/4/14.Visited on 3/4/14 and loads of beers on as usual.Nice pub but too busy for my liking.Often pop in here as its got the best range of Nicolson beers on in London but is always rammed.Weltons -blackcurrent mild was superb.

On 22nd April 2014 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]


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Steve of N21 left this review about The Falcon

Also made a return visit to the Falcon the other evening for a couple before heading up the road for a tour of the Sambrook Brewery.
Sadly also have to report the fall from great heights for the Falcon. To repeat a recent comment the interior is still great, and the different sections still remain a great place for a beer, but there no longer remains a wide choice of ale.
Only the two banks in the front section were in operation and it was a sad sight to see the row of 10 pumps on the back section forlornly unclipped and almost to rub salt into historic memories to have two plastic boxes full of pump clips perched next to them on the edge of the bar looking like they were ready to be relegated to the pub loft, never to see the light of day again.
The chalk board in the front section was displaying six or seven beer names but only three beers remained available by the time we got in there around 6.00PM.
Fortunately these were a couple of well-kept interesting brews and there was no sign of the type of dodgy bar craft or short pulling aforementioned.
Now for a lot of pubs, to offer three well kept ales from regional brewers would be something to cheer about. But in the Falcon considering what has gone before, it is a severe disappointment.
So in conclusion the Falcon is now a good pub, whereas before it had been a great pub, and my rating modified accordingly.

On 22nd April 2014 - rating: 6
[User has posted 2094 recommendations about 1985 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Bucking Fastard left this review about The Falcon

ORIGINAL REVIEW Feb 2010
High standards maintained in this Nicholsons pub where the ale quality thankfully matches the ale quantity.We sampled the Golden Arrow (Cottage Brewing),Blonde(Lancaster),Cornish Mutiny(Wooden Hand),Bankers Draft(Wickwar) and Haggis Hunter(Harviestoun) which was the pick of this well kept selection.Encouraging to see a lot of younger drinkers (blokes and birds) hitting the real ale ,good quality bar snacks now served until 10pm to soak up the alcohol and despite being busy all night,the bar service remained crisp and efficient.Top quaffing pub.

DECEMBER 2012

My latest trip to The Falcon proved a disappointment.The interior is still great,the side snug most unusual and there was a wide choice of real ale.However I was with a large group and a number of us has pints that were poor from various brewers.The chalk board listing what's available wasn't being kept up to date and as the Friday evening session wore on ,more and more ales ran out without being replaced.That inevitably left the less popular brews to choose from and again the quality of some of these was also suspect.The rushed service caused several short measure pints.
I hope we were just unlucky on the night,but on this showing The Falcon has slipped back into the pack of Nicholsons outlets rather than being a shining beacon.It may need to pull it's socks up if it wants to maintain it's GBG status.

UPDATE

Oh dear,standards have really slipped.During a Friday session the blackboard became a sea of crossed out ales by 8pm,seemingly no new beers were coming on and the standard of what was then available was often ropey,several out of condition,other tasteless.The muzak has been turned up a few notches,unnessary really as the pub was still vibrant.This pub reminded me how many Nicholsons used to be a decade ago and on this evidence I would be amazed if it makes the 2015 GBG.Great interior worth a squint ,but it gets the carte rouge on the real ale front.

On 30th November 2013 - rating: 6
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]

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