The Coach and Horses

Nice little pub on the road to Brixton, with a small external area by the road (even poetic licence wouldn't allow me to call it a garden!)  Just a shame it fills up so much in good weather or for major sport.

Serves 3 or 4 standard real ales. Can't recall exactly what I supped, but it was alright.

Gone very much downhill of late, sadly. Always empty. Seemed to have been bought recently but despite a polish the food, drink and atmosphere have got quite poor. You have to wonder why a pub never has any customers aside from a few old Irish men and a smattering of locals from the estate it backs on to. Will probably be turned into flats soon, a far cry from it's glory days of 2006-2011. Too many pubs in Clapham the cause or just not good enough? Who knows.

Awesome, awesome food and not pricey! Can't beat a Sunday roast for a tenner. The ingredients are local and fresh, too. And fab service to boot! Really cozy pub, not too packed but also not empty, with a big screen to watch the footy. Definitely will be back to try more food.

-Pork belly roast - Beyond awesome. Comes with crackling and applesauce and delicious sides and yorkshire pudding.
-Fish & chips - Yum!
-Vegetarian roast - Comes with a half sqaush and mushrooms and awesome cheese sauce.

What can i say about The Coach And Horses? Great food at decent prices, a great selection of drinks at a reasonable prices, great Staff, especially James who is a very nice guy. If you are in the area, check out the Coach and Horses, it is well worth it.

Usually go for Sunday Roast - it's only a tenner for a huge plate of food and it all tastes really great. Comes within 15-20 mins. Yorkies are a particular highlight.

Great place for watching sport - not usually too busy and can get a seat. 2 large screens and sound for most games.

Only complaint would be the outdoor area which is a bit basic and faces the road.

What a winner of a pub! Drinkable, real and local ale on tap and a hearty, tasty menu of great value food. Set me up with a pint of Seabrooks, a chicken club sandwich and the addictive chocolate brownie...and I will be a happy punter.

Quizmaster on Thursday is a tad Brian Blessed on acid, but the atmosphere is good.

Bar staff are cool guys and there is a solid group of regulars, a mixture of not-too-posh Claphamites and genuine locals. Beats the pants of the Abbeville!

Minor gripe: sometimes runs out of ale!

The Coach and Horses is a phenomenal pub and i'm seriously excited about the weekends ahead as this is arguably the best place in South London to watch the 6 nations. The staff here do a barbecue outside (cheap burgers mostly) and there is plenty of seats inside (worth getting here early though if you want to get a good view of the screen).

I've always found the staff here to be delightful and the landlord seems like a top bloke too.

Quick tip - If you can't get a seat downstairs, there is a secret upstairs room (which isn't well sign posted, but perhaps that's a blessing in disguise!) with 2 42 inch plasmas and about 10-15 seats. Check it out!

I’ve been going to the coach with a couple of fellow qypers for a number of years now and have always had a good time. I’ve seen the change of ownership/management in the last 2 years and although wasn’t massively happy with the refit and loss of the charming bookshelves, I accepted it as progress. I cannot deny the new landlord his attempt to try to put his stamp on the place, why else would you buy a business as a going concern unless you feel you could improve it? Good luck to him.
What I would say after a visit there tonight is that I’ve reserved judgement for some time now hoping the following problems were initial problems that would be ironed out. For example, in the old days it would always be guaranteed that there were 2 out of the 3 real ales continually unavailable. I always hoped this would be eradicated by the new owner but on my visits since, this has not been the case. Landlord, I know you’ve read reviews here before and would love to know why this is a continual situation?
Also throughout my tenure as a customer I can only ever remember one night where there have been paper towels in the mens loos. Trivial I know, perfectly acceptable on a busy weekend but not on a week night such as tonight (Tuesday) when the place isn’t near heaving. This has been the case too many times.
In summary, I love the place. More down to the fact that I’ve had some great times here. If they fixed the ale pumps and mens loos it would still be near perfect as the type of pub you can enter at 12pm and leave 12 hours later.
Hope to be changing this review in the near future. tvs10.
UPDATE: As promised, I have been back to the Coach over the months since this review and on all occasions the problems I noted above have been addressed. Looking forward to spending many a long day here during the upcoming 6 nations. Fantastic.

I went here recently for a birthday with a group of friends and all I can say is wow! I used to visit here before the new owners (James and Steve) took over approximately one year ago and what a massive improvement. What was once a shambling wreck of a 'boozer’ has become a modern, friendly establishment that I will be visiting again, for sure. The service, which was on a hectic day of football and rugby was first class, as was the food which arrived on-time and to a very high standard. The new owners have refurbished a room upstairs and turned it into a bonified 'function room’ with dedicated bar and TV’s - a great place to relax and watch a game.

Overall, the Coach and Horses is a place I would recommend to anyone thinking of going to Clapham for a night out.

Well done to the boys and girls of the Coach and Horses!

Ok short and sweet here.
Used to be awesome. Nostalgic old book cases with weather beaten Dickens novels and other time touched works of fiction and fact languishing from various shelves; a full array of bitter shields, facing to greet the entering parched traveler, and a rustic decor, the kind that evokes memories of decadent houses in the country. We used to spend whole weekends in there.

Now there are beige walls, cheap chandeliers (this is a pub, not strictly come dancing) candle holders protruding from walls and no more than 2 bitter taps on the go at any one time. Im afraid to say that the atmosphere feels like the walls- a little white washed and sterile.

At least the screens are still there for the sport!

Probably the best pub in London (definitelty top 3). My only feedback would be that they need a wider selection of Ales on tap. Any chance you could get summer lightning or Discovery on for the summer months?

A great, great, great place to watch live sport.

**Final Update - I promise!**

Had a very nice email from Steve the landlord at the Coach and Horses. I think i was a bit sweeping with my review earlier! The Coach has still retained much of it’s charm. I guess i am just one of those people that doesn’t like change. As Steve rightly says, “where the bookshelves were we now have twin vintage iron candleabras and there was always plasma tvs downstairs”. I’ll definitely see the Coach and Horses as my Clapham local and Steve’s email reiterates that this is a friendly, social pub and probably the finest in Clapham.

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Where everybody knows your name… The Coach and Horses is a fantastic pub and i’m proud to call it my local. It’s a great venue for watching live sport (particularly rugby) and in the summer they have Waggledance, Adnams and Discovery on tap.

Great pub food (2 for 1 burgers on a tuesday night) and lots of friendly faces behind the bar. Oh, and say hello to the eighty year old who sits by the door - he’s been coming every day for 40 years and has some crazy stories…

This is a cozy little pub with a comfortable setting and laid back vibe. The music is fairly non intrusive with nothing unexpected or abrasive being churned out. The bar and waiting staff were cheerful.

They definitely draw crowds in for sports events, be it football, rugby, cricket or whatever else is on. I’ll let you decide on whether thats a good or a bad thing!

*It used to be 2 for 1 on burgers every Monday, which I seem to remember being tasty.

This pub is really friendly and even the monthly pub quiz creates a bit of friendly banter between regulars and newcomers.
The food is very good although the kitchen has some fairly odd opening hours on the weekend. There are standard burgers (2 for 1 on Mondays) but also quite nice platters and olivey-nibbley things.
Staff are usually friendly although when it is busy sometimes they struggle to cope.
All in all it's a great local - if I had to make any improvements they would be: don't start new staff on a busy night, keep kitchen open all day Saturdays, have a proper quiz every week and stop aiming the quiz questions at people born in the 50s!

I love this place. Have spent many happy times in The Coach. This often involves going in for lunch, looking up and wondering why it's dark outside and realising I've been in there for hours.

Good for live sports. Will usually get rammed with annoying antipodeans if a southern hemisphere team's playing but if you can bag yourself a table then settle in for the duration and enjoy yourself.

Happy Days.