Randomness Guide to London Menu

Pub in New Malden, just across the road from New Malden Station.

Previously known as the Railway, it was refurbished in mid-2008 and now offers real ale and French (and British) food. It's divided into a couple of sections; a bar area at the front, and a dining area and a garden at the back. The bar area has a mixture of seating; small, low armchairs clustered around coffee tables, a few high tables/chairs, and some normal tables and upright chairs too.

Kake, bob, and Richard visited on a Monday evening in August 2009. Real ales available were Doom Bar (~£3.50/pint), Deuchars IPA, Young's Bitter, and Bombardier. Service was friendly, and empty glasses were cleared very promptly. Kake, Sarah, and Jo visited again on a Thursday evening in February 2011, when the real ales were Theakston's Best, Caledonian Over The Bar (£3.70/pint), Bombardier, and Courage Directors. The staff were happy to give a taster of the ale.

On both visits the lighting in the bar area was very dim, to the point where it would have been hard to read a book, and music was playing, but not very loudly. On our August 2009 visit, although it was after 9pm, there were several children shouting and scampering about, probably part of a family party in the back dining area, so it seems the place is family-friendly.

We thought the seating arrangements were a little suboptimal, though by the time of our second visit they'd added an extra normal table, which helped. The small armchairs were not entirely comfortable for the taller members of our party, and we also felt the way they were arranged around the tables wasn't really conducive to conversation unless we sat up and leaned forward, which rather negates the point of an armchair. One of the normal tables was booked on our second visit.

The food part of the operation appears to be a L'Auberge operation (either now or previously part of the Massive Pubs group) rather than the work of a completely independent chef.

Accessibility: Ramp to get in. Level access to seating area, bar, ladies' and gents' toilets, and accessible toilet. May also be step-free to the garden. The pub has its own car park. DisabledGo entry

See also:

• Pubs Galore comments
• Beer In The Evening comments
• Qype comments