Sunday Lunch at The Plough Clapham, Battersea Actually

There is always excitement and buzz when something new appears in an area. On this stretch of St John’s Hill, the area is seeing an influx of new restaurants with the opening of The Plough Clapham and Ben’s Canteen recently.The Plough is yet another Youngs pub who seem to be dominating this corner of South West London.

On a recent weekend, we decided to have Sunday lunch here and it was their first Sunday of service. When entering The Plough, you might be confused into thinking that you are entering a restaurant rather than a pub as there is a greeter at the door. Strange.

The place is really spacious with high ceilings and bright pink velvet chesterfields in the front window, great for lounging on while having a Manhattan or two. It’s that kind of place.

The dining area seems larger than bar area which probably highlights the ambitions of the management. Tables are well spaced out so you don’t feel like you are shoe horned into a corner of pub as an after thought. It wasn’t completely full but there was a nice buzz and a mixed clientele of families with kids and people rolling in for a hangover cure.

Menus offer the regular pub fare with daily specials on a blackboard near the kitchen. The kitchen is open to the dining area via a large hatch and there seemed to be a lot more staff in there than servers in the front of house.

We had the Roast Beef with all the trimmings.The serving was enormous, the beef was flavoursome but slightly overdone, the goose fat roast potatoes were fab but the leek and vegetable concoction was practically raw.

Being their first week, we didn’t expect perfection. I guess the kitchen is still finding their feet. The management dealt with our comments about the food really well, taking the drinks off the bill and came to apologise too. Very professional.

We didn’t stay for pudding this time but will be back again soon to try out the other offerings on the menu like the intriguingly named Parrot Wings. The Plough is a great addition to this area which sorely needed casual dining room.

Our lunch came to about £25 for two without drinks.

The Plough Clapham

89 St. John’s Hill,London, SW11 1SY