The Draft House, Northcote Road

Great Pub, 15 draught beers all well kept and served in their own glasses, 50 bottled beers from near and far. Lots of fun trying to taste them all, I tried doing it in pints but they do serve 1/3rd of a pint glasses too for the less ambitious! small, but very friendly and well decorated, and if conversation runs dry the even have a small magnetic dartboard on the wall, magic!!

A proper meaning looong lunch with The Wine Chap and the Gerber Girls. I’m biased but I felt the general feeling was that the scotch egg is as good as it gets. I’m feeling pretty confident re our entry in the Scotch Egg Challenge at The Ship next week. Special mentions also for the super size bottles of Yeti espresso stout abv 9.5% and the Page 24 Tripel abv 7.5%. Both in superior form.

Lovely atmosphere and outside space.

Another ale-championing establishment from the unstoppable Charlie McVeigh, and again he's managed to bring together his passion for great food and drink with a taste for off kilter decor and a nose for a great location.

Nestled in the heart of 'nappy valley' the Draft House is a classy gastro-ish pub, with a huuuuge range of beers both on tap and in bottles. The local ales are exceptional: the Wandle and the Junction are brewed just down the road and shouldn't be missed.

At the back of the room is a small dining area serving up classics like burgers, steak, sausages etc. Although our request for ox tongue fritters ( a house speciality) was sadly denied (they'd run out!) the padron peppers made a good replacement.

For my main I opted for the toulouse sausages and lentils (I'm on a January health kick). The sausages needed a little less salt (maybe the kitchen were trying to get me to drink more ale), but the lentils were excellent, and how often can you say that?

Put all that together with some truly awesome Mario wallpaper on the way to the loos and you have a cracking new drinking den south of the river.

Sought this place out last night, was busy for a Tuesday night, great range of beers on tap and bottled, a range matched by very few places elsewhere in the capital.

The head waiter/barman was very friendly and knowledgable about the beers, making recommendations. Their strength seems to be in keg draft rather than real ales, although there are a few real ales, including the very fine Wandle.

Food was faultless, I had a potted ham hock for starter, scallops with black pudding and pea puree for a main, fantastic!

Good info but the Draft House is in Battersea, not Clapham... (as is the rest of SW11).

Loved all the ideas about this place and although the range of beers can be matched elsewhere in London, it cannot be completely beaten in my opinion.

The food looked and smelled amazing, and the beers were varied and well kept. The barman was unfailingly knowledgeable and patient as I eventually settled for 3 third-pints of different but wonderful ales.

However, there are a few things which can't be helped that mean this Draft House isn't quite everyone's pint of tea.

Given the very structure of the building, it feels a bit cramped inside and when we were there we could only get stools, unless we wanted to eat. It also becomes rather an assault course if people are pushing baby buggies towards the pram park.

The long-legged Arnie, that is me, says: "I'll be back."

The short-arsed Danny DeVito, that is my Glaswegian girlfriend (providing she doesn't read this), says: "Nae wi' those high stools an' prams, aam nae."

The Draft House opened its doors in November but had it's official launch last night. We had a great evening and I'd highly recommend dropping in if you're in the area. Here's my summary:

Good things:

- A huge selection of beers. From local real ales and German wheat beers to Aussie lager and beers from the US (anchor steam, Brooklyn lager etc)

- Awesome wallpaper. Check out the Super Mario Bros decor on the way to the toilets!

- Good burgers. Probably the best burger I've had on Northcote road (although I'm yet to try Cattle Grid a few doors down)

- Friendly staff. Particularly in the restaurant area.

Not so good things:

- No ox tongue fritters! We were quite excited about the fritters, but unfortunately they had run out. Our second choice of starter was also unavailable.

- Speed of service. While it was always with a smile, the table service was quite slow. But hey, it was the opening night so very forgivable.

All in all a great venue, lots of beer and decent burgers. If they can make a few minor improvements I'm sure the Draft house will graduate to 5 stars in no time at all.

Well, it's my place so I would say this - but the Draft House Northcote rocks. Seventeen beers on draft and 50+ in bottle, good honest food, great art. What's not to like?

The ox-tongue fritters are not to be missed.