The Falcon, Clapham North

Very good pub-food, very poor ale.

I went here on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon, having booked a table for 8 of us to have lunch. The place was quite quiet, but I think that was because it was a Bank Holiday. The food menu is extensive, with daily specials. We all had different things, and everything looked lovely, tasted great, and the portions were big.

The Falcon is one of the few pubs in Clapham to serve real ale. I've been here four times now, and three times I've had an ale that's been "off" -- you know, it tastes really sour and looks flat. I doubt they sell much of it because it's not that sort of pub, but it's a shame that they serve ale, but don't serve it properly.

1 Jun 2010 14:05

The Landor, Clapham

I visited this pub on Saturday evening having not been in since last August. To my mind it's gone slightly downhill in that time, though I was pleased that they had three different ales (Doom Bar, Norton's Bitter, and Hop Back's Summer Lightning) rather than just Greene King.

Well the Bitter was just gorgeous (well-kept ale is like hens' teeth in Clapham). Summer Lightning was far too warm, though (imagine drinking from a bottle left in a car boot on a hot day). I also found the pub to be really dark and dingy (even though it was 6pm), and the table at which I sat was very sticky. It was mostly solitary old men when I arrived at 6 but became slightly more cosmopolitan over the next hour.

I feel this pub could be a real gem, if only they would turn up the lights, give it a lick of paint and clean the place more thoroughly.

1 Jun 2010 13:48