Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 4 and Version 3 of Manor Arms, SW16 6LQ

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Child-friendly gastropub in Streatham.

Formerly a standard locals' pub, this has now been refurbished into a clearly more upmarket version, with exposed floorboards, wood-panelled walls, and an open kitchen behind the long curving bar. Out the back there's a paved beer garden, part-covered, with plants in pots around the walls.

Kake and bob visited on a Bank Holiday Monday in June 2012. Although the Time Out review linked below states that their reviewers were greeted by staff and guided to a table, we were happy to see that we could just walk in, order at the bar, and choose our own seats. There were quite a lot of people in, so we decided to sit in the garden (where we were later joined by a party with a dog, suggesting that the place is dog-friendly). There were three real ales on handpump — Sharp's Doom Bar, Sambrooks Wandle, and Hogs Back MajesTEA (£3.80/pint) — as well as a handpulled lager, Sharp's Pilsner.

According to the Time Out website as of June 2012, the main menu photo is served noon-3pm and 6-10pm Mon-Sat, and noon-9pm Sun. According to a menu we saw in the pub in the same month, they have an additional "Crab Shack" menu photo available on Saturdays and Bank Holidays. There's also a bar snack menu photo — we're not sure whether or not this is available outside the usual food times.

We tried a selection of things from the main menu and the crab shack menu (though the prawns and whelks are also listed on the bar snack menu). Confit rabbit with anchovies and chicory (£8 as a main menu starter) photo was nicely rich, an interesting preparation of this usually quite lean meat. Monkfish cheeks with mash and bacon (£7, also a starter) photo was tasty and well-presented, though not overly exciting.

From the crab shack menu, a half-pint of whelks (£1.50) photo was fine, while a half-pint of prawns (£7) photo was pretty good; the prawns had been cooked for the right amount of time and were seasoned well. Dorset pearl oysters (£1.50 each) photo had a few too many stray bits of shell for our liking, though were fine otherwise.

A side dish of mixed beets (£2.50) photo came dressed with olive oil and chopped shallot, and made a nice change from the more usual side vegetable dishes. Finally, bread and butter (£1.80) photo was a generous portion of two types of bread, one lightly spiced with cumin and the other salty and soft and spongy (in a good way), along with a similarly generous portion of good butter.

Kake's verdict: I'd come back.

Child-friendliness: The management certainly seem to be aiming at making the place child-friendly; there's a toybox, a fold-down baby-changing table in the accessible toilet, and a weekly story-telling session from Amarillo Arts. There's also a children's menu available (though it sadly bears little resemblance to the much more interesting main menu). On our Bank Holiday visit in June 2012, there were plenty of children in evidence.

Accessibility: A step to get in — not huge, but probably too big for some wheelchair users. There is an accessible toilet though. Three steps to get into the beer garden, and another step to get to the far end of it.

See also:

Last visited by Kake and bob, June 2012. Opening hours and food times taken from Time Out website, June 2012.

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