Randomness Guide to London Menu

A Fuller's pub on Balham High Road.

This pub, in an area infested with many loathsomely trendy bars, has large plate-glass windows, sofas, pool tables, and pale wood, but when you go inside it's not so bad. Yes, there's music, but it's not overly loud and isn't the awful stuff that is so common these days and which offends those who are actually musicians. On a Thursday evening in March 2008 when DrHyde visited it was very quiet, with just a couple of other small groups of customers (though weekend evenings are far busier as Ewan found out a few months later, and the feel is more like a sports bar). Service was very quick, although how they would cope on a busy night I don't know. The pizzas we ordered were good.

That's not to say that everything's great though. There was only one real beer on, London Pride. It was well-kept, but with four hand-pumps on the bar they really should have some of Fullers' other beers instead of just having the Pride pump-clip on all four. The soft drinks selection was also a bit poor, with no grapefruit juice. They also tended to put too much ice into soft drinks.

So over all, this isn't a great pub, certainly not one worth travelling to, but if you do need a pub in the area, it's sufficient, and given the lack of other choices nearby (the Duke of Devonshire has been vandalised in the name of fashion; the Clarence is full of braying idiots; and the Bedford can be very noisy), it'll have to do.

Web site claims to have wifi available, and it is all wheelchair-accessible. Food is served noon-9pm.

See also:

• Beer In The Evening comments
• Fancyapint review