And so to Putney with the chaps on a rare Friday night out, now that we are fast approaching middle age our drinking needs to be done sitting down and preferably with some food. Big Matt and I had done some scouting out for venues on our last trip and the Prince of Wales seemed to fit the bill. A nice old style boozer that has been tarted up and does gastro influenced food. We checked in advance and it had the ubiquitous £11 burger so that was us sorted. We met at 7:45 which was a good time to arrive, the post work drinkers were beginning to drift home and other revellers hadn’t made it here yet. Being Friday night it was a young crowd in but unlike a lot of places there was nothing to put off the more mature drinker. With some good bar skills we bagged ourselves a table near the bar and settled in for the night. We could have gone through to the main eating area which is around the back of the pub but it was nice being in amongst pub buzz.
Ordering at the bar was a bit of a struggle at times as it isn’t very big and they had seats at it so the serving area was a bit crushed. Having said that the staff were good at getting through the punters but I do prefer to have something to prop against whilst I’m waiting to be served. Anyway a couple of pints in I went up to put in our £11 burger orders, was pleased they asked about cooking (2 mediums and a well done) The burgers arrived with napkins, cutlery and condiments about 20 minutes later and I have to say I was impressed. It was a good size with very tasty patty, a nice amount of relish and good portion of gherkin. The bun was really good seeded fresh and crisp. An extra bonus were the chips, not fries, which were triple cooked so really crispy and tasty. Big Matt ,who is just wrong, doesn’t like good chips like this so I polished his off. We all agreed very nice and very filling also at £11 terrific value for money.
Our appetites sated we could relax and sup our drinks and discuss the important matters in life like why king Kenny bought Jordan Henderson, why one of our employers insists everyone reverse into their parking spaces and why Villa Steve doesn’t like the Matrix. It was a fun night out in a very good pub. It is well worth a detour to check out. I imagine the food in the main restaurant is good but you know sometimes it is nice to go to a lively pub for a drink and the food is an incidental bonus.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9