adylen's Qype profile

Pool tournament last night at the Cadogan - in their jazzed up billiard(s) room upstairs. Standard of tables was great; standard of play? Not always so great.

A note on the wall decoration (photos, general pool arcana) described in an earlier review - and I’m aware I might sound a bit dull here; they are actually genuinely quite interesting... proper effort has been made and it shows - not a dog-playing-pool in sight...

Perhaps they’re a bit too proud of their walls, as my only criticism of upstairs was that it was a bit too brightly lit for a dedicated pool room I reckon. But the food (an upscale take on pub standards: burgers, fishnchips) was as good as it needs to be these days. Wine (I tried an ETM Cabernet and a Chardonnay/Viognier from the same producer) was very drinkable for the price, which is more than sufficient in a pub - however ambitious it may be.

Downstairs after the pool we relaxed into a lovely three seater Chesterfield & assorted comfy leather chairs to nurture the rest of the red. I get what Alex says about the mishmash of formal/informal downstairs... but it didn’t offend me in perhaps the same way. And I never noticed the stuffed animals - but maybe that was the red...

Overall, I think it’s definitely still a pub; but one which can just about get away with being a restaurant too.

Urban Golf Soho have a great offer at the moment of a free lunch with each hour of the simulator booked any weekday 24 hours in advance.

Great place to go and play around with friends without becoming wet and tired.

Although beware… I went in the drink on the world famous 17th at Valderrama to throw an until-then closely fought matchplay scrap with my friend John; heartbreaking… but at least I had a free club sandwich by way of consolation.

Make sure you get a full hour - it’s pricey enough at 15 quid per person without some young upstart dressed like Ian Poulter pressuring you.

McFarlane’s is a family-owned, family-run deli which is extremely popular in this particular part of Clapham (annoyingly christened ‘Abbeville village’ by local estate agents - of which there seem to be a quickly increasing number).

Highlights: Mr. McFarlane’s huge knowledge of (and enthusiasm for) the production and preservation of a massive array of English and European cheeses - be sure to ask him about his own special modifications…

And his printed form to order all your pre-Christmas goodies? A fine example of good heritage branding.