Finally it had arrived, the weekend of the joint Wonderstuff/Levellers gig at the Brixton academy. These don't come up every day and some effort had gone into planning a good boys day out around an evening of indie fiddle! I had sucessfully seen off my lovely wife and baby G who were heading back to the inlaws so big Matt and I had an afternoon's drinking planned. The Oxford boys were due to meet us at Victoria at 4 so after a quick pint in the ever excellent "Churchill Arms" we headed over to that area for a late lunch. Now Victoria is a tricky area, it does have some very nice places nearby like my absolute favourite "La Poule au Pot" but there are also a fair few places whose aim is to part an unsuspecting tourists from their money. As we were planning an evening jumping around we needed something substantial but relatively quick. The pubs around Victoria are not the best but that goes for the pubs near any London mainline station. However I then remembered my lovely wife had recommended the "Thomas Cubitt".
After a bit of aimless wandering we found it and were surprised to see it still pretty full at 3PM on a Saturday. Mind you I can see why it is bright airy and inviting. There is some seating outside but the large glass front makes the inside very light as well. My heart did sink a little on entering as it was very busy with a well heeled crowd. However the manager quickly introduced himself and found us a table at the back without delay. we perused the menu which is very much upmarket gastro. A lot of people seemed to be enjoying the seafood platter. We kept it simple and went for the burger which came with cheese and bacon washed sown with a nice pint of Adnans.
Now sat at our nice wood table with proper serviettes I was a bit worried that we might have a wait for a food and I had seen other people burgers which looked on the small side. However as soon as we finished our first pint the food turned up. The burger was indeed small but appeared to have a tardis like properties. It was actually very substantial and filling served along with some very nice hand cut chips. Big Matt and I really enjoyed and along with a second pint it set us up nicely for our long evening ahead. The place was busy but the service was really professional, our waitress was new but got everything spot on. It was really nice to see somewhere so busy getting it right. It wasn't the cheapest burger around but it was very nice and eating in a grown up gastro pub is a very nice way to spend a sunny afternoon. I will certainly be back again to try more of the menu and to linger a little longer.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Been here loads very handy if meeting up with anyone travelling home through Victoria