Randomness Guide to London Menu

Pub in Little Chalfont, very close to Chalfont and Latimer Station. A little bit posh but not pretentious. Quite focused on food, but you can come in and just have a pint (not sure if the dining room and conservatory are restricted to diners at busy times, though).

Comfortable seating, including a couple of leather sofas in the front bit. Proper pepper and salt grinders on the tables; thick (albeit paper) napkins; nice cutlery. The music is unobtrusive. There's a reasonably-sized (though not huge) garden out the back, reached via a conservatory set with dining tables.

Kake's first visit was mid-afternoon on a Tuesday in March 2007, when it was pretty much empty apart from a few locals. On another visit, late afternoon on a Sunday in September 2007, it was busier, and filled up even more before we left, though not to uncomfortable levels. There were a number of children, who were well-behaved enough.

The food's pretty good, if not cheap; as of September 2007, starters were around £5–6.50 and main courses around £11–15. Kake had the fish pie on her March 2007 visit; it was full of large chunks of tasty salmon and white fish, along with some prawns. Unlike most pub fish pies, it wasn't oversalted, it didn't have too much sauce, and it was served at just the right temperature, hot but not scalding. Good stuff. The herb buttered carrots on the side were a bit disappointing (slightly overcooked, and not very flavourful). Lunch was supposed to end at 3pm, and I was nearly half an hour late, but they fed me anyway, hurrah!

Food times as of September 2007 (confirmed via email) are noon–3pm and 5pm–10:30pm Mon–Fri; noon–4pm and 5pm–10:30pm Sat; and noon–9pm Sun.

An anonymous visitor (April 2009) tells us that there are cocktail nights on Wednesdays.

As of May 2008, Friday night is lobster night, with 8oz of grilled lobster (plus chips and salad) costing £15 and 16oz costing £20.

Beers on offer are Landlord (Timothy Taylor), Broadside (Adnams) and Bitter (Adnams). A pint of one of the Adnams was £3 as of September 2007. They also have Hoegaarden and Staropramen amongst the usual lagers.

See also:

• Beer In The Evening comments
• Kake's photo of the menu as of September 2007

GPS data collected by Kake on a Garmin eTrex, 6 March 2007, and released into the public domain: OSGB 499530, 197527, outside the entrance

Comment added by HS: BEWARE! The Sugar Loaf Inn is now under new management. Last night, we (a party of 4) were served the worst meal any of us have ever had. Most of it was actually inedible. For example, I chose the Gazpachio as a starter which burnt my mouth (unusual for a cold soup)as it was full of raw red hot chillis - yes, chillies in a Gazpachio! I was offered an alternative. I asked what the hot soup of the day was and was told "spicy tomato soup - actually it's the same soup only hot". I chose the cider cured salmon, The first mouthful was slimey and tasteless and the second fizzed on my tongue. I stopped there to be safe. Meanwhile, my 3 fellow diners all had the twice baked stilton soufle. The "presentation" was laughable - there was a quartered tomato one one side of the soufle (which was bland, cold, heavy and resembled a burned scone) and a few leaves on the other. The mains didn't fair much better. Nothing was seasoned and the vegetables were a joke. I had to spit out (something I've never done in public) what I think was supposed to be a potato but might well have been a polystyrine chip. My friend could not even identiify the mush on his plate but it sort of looked like potato with lumps of raw red onion mashed into it. After complaining, we were only charged for 2 starters and 2 mains which, in my opinion, was still too much. The meal was an insult.