London Pub Tour 44 - Clapham Junction: Slug and Lettuce, The Falcon and The Junction

Clapham Junction is a station and the surrounding Clapham area has a wealth of pubs. Being that Clapham Junction is only one train stop from Victoria, I felt it time to chronicle the three pubs right next to the station in my next London Pub tour. The sun was out and it was Friday after work. I stepped off the train at Clapham Junction and made my way to my first stop the Slug and Lettuce (SW11 1RU). Now I've debated whether the Slug and Lettuce chain can be considered a pub and I've yet to set down any true defined rules but in planning this trip I came to the conclusion it does indeed qualify as a pub because its primary purpose is to serve alcohol, it has draught beer and you aren't required to sit at a table to drink. I think I do need to flesh out the what counts / what doesn't a bit more but I feel Slug and Lettuce (and therefore also All Bar One and Yates) would meet any qualification as a pub, as to discount them would also discount many other venues.

It's been a few years since I've been to a Slug and Lettuce, and that was to watch a football match at the O2. I've never been in this venue before and hardly ever noticed it before. It is actually quite easy to miss when coming out of the station due to no standout branding, glass frontage and no outside drinking area. The pub inside is very modern and sleek. The bar is on the left hand wall. From the door to the bar, and around it, there are no tables in the way, creating a large open space. There are a few tables towards the rear near the kitchen, which is where I sat, but the majority of the tables are on the raised seating area directly in front of the bar. There were TVs on showing sport, whilst music played out at a low volume. The bar frontage is entirely tiles, which was a nice feature. There are some fake exposed bricks on the wall but the majority is just white painted walls, adding to the brightness of the pub.

The bar had two hand pumps but sadly only the GK IPA was on, with the Adnams Ghost Ship off. The keg selection was Guiness, Vedet, Amstel, Peroni, Stella, Estrella, Hop House 13 and Mortimer's Cider. I selected a pint of Hop House 13 which came in at £5.25. Sadly it was a bad pour which created a flat looking beer, but it tasted okay in this heat. When seated at the table drinking I realised all the tables are slightly taller than you would normally expect but the seats are at the perfect height to sit at and still have your feet on the floor, so it was a selected design reason. The clientele was mixed though the pub was sparsely populated and felt quiet. I finished up my pint and moved onto my next venue The Falcon (SW11 1RU) which was the complete opposite in crowd level. Everyone had spilled outside onto the pavement outside to drink and enjoy the sun, so I was slightly concerned how busy it might be inside. The inside was also busy but mainly around the front bar area. The bar is set as a large orbital bar that runs through the whole pub, but as there is no longer any service on the rear half of the bar, this area was quiet / empty.

The pub has three distinct sections. The main bar which is at the front facing out onto the road and has plenty of light coming through due to being on a corner. The rear bar now appears to be reserved for large groups or diners (if it wasn't a Friday). Lastly there is a little snug area connecting the main bar and the rear bar. The snug is carpeted and has grandfather chairs and book shelves. It only fits a few people and I've never sat in there as it's always taken. As a Nicholson pub there is a large ale selection and a variety of keg and bottle beers. The ales on during my visit were Pride, Christopher, Nicholson's Pale Ale, Ghost Ship, Doombar, Ilkley Hanging Stone, Sussex Best, Rev James Rye, Black Sheep and Sharp's Atlantic. A few pumps were off or coming soon. In the keg front there was London Lager, London Pale Ale, Stella, Carling, Guinness, Peroni, Hells, Amstel and Mortimers. I opted for a pint of Christopher's from Great Heck along with a pack of crisps for £5.60. The beer was cellar cooled which was perfect for this warm day. It was a slightly bitter pale ale but clear, good lacing and no bad tastes.

I had my beer in the main bar but at the rear where there was space and ledges to rest the pint on. The pub is well maintained from the wood panelling, to the booth seating facing out the window at the old Arding and Hobbs department store (now Debenhams). There are electric light chandelier's hanging from the ceiling and hops running above the bar. I did pop into the rear bar and seen that it was empty and lots of tables reserved, so it goes to show how many more people the pub can handle. I would certainly recommend visiting this pub for the wood interior and normally large and varied selection of ales. I walked round the back to avoid the crowd to leave the pub and head onto my final stop The Junction (SW11 1SA).

This pub was previously known as the Windsor Castle and had a small front bar and large rear bar, with no connection to walk between them. After a refurb the bar was moved against the side wall allowing the pub to be one large room. The pub is a large detached building with a mock tudor beam front and is quite long but not that wide.. At the front are a mix of high and low tables. Beyond this is the bar area and a few tables against the walls. Then the rear area of the pub where there are quite a number of low tables. The pub also has a walled beer garden which has some amazing art work on them. The floor is carpet apart from block wood around bar area. Unfortunately the walls are the standard Taylor Walker with fake bookcase wallpaper in places. There was a large number of people inside the pub (40+) and as such no seats available. The crowd here was slightly older than the previous two pubs.

The bar 6 hand pumps with one offering cider (Lilley's Mango) and one being off (Thankfully GK IPA). The other 4 pumps were London Glory, Grandstand, Sheep Dip and Hairy Hooker. The keg options were Asahi, Peroni, Pilsner Urquell, Hells, Camden Pale, Over Easy, Spaten, Fosters, Guinness and Hop House. I started by having a half of the Lilley Mango Cider as I have a sweet spot for this drink. It is so sweet and delicious that you would think your drinking a soft drink and not an alcoholic beverage. After that I got two halves of the Plain Ales beers - Hairy Hooker and Sheep Dip. Both the beers were Bitter's which I wasn't expecting. The Hooker was more expensive at £2.50, and came in at 4.1%. This had a lovely toasted taste to it whilst also feeling sweet. The Sheep Dip half cost £2.10 and came in at 3.8%. This beer had the same aroma but had a reduced flavour. It was bitter with no sweet after taste. It was all upfront and nothing after.

I raise this just as a final pondering point. Whilst at the pub there was a table of 3 who had food delivered to their table. Then a fourth member of their group came in with a take away from McDonald's and sat down and joined them eating it in the pub. I raise this as I feel it's pub etiquette not to bring in your own food unless permitted and also strange he brought a McD's rather then order something better from their menu. Staff didn't mention a thing to them and considering three had bought food and they were all drinking there, from a business point of view it makes sense, but if it was the other way round with 1 eating and 3 bringing a takeaway, I've no doubt it would have been a different outcome.