Name: Stonhouse
Address: 165 Stonhouse Street, London, Clapham, SW4 6BJ, UK
Telephone: +44 (0) 871 971 6155

Clapham’s relatively affordable properties have meant that in recent years floods of young people have moved into the area. This has resulted in dozens of shiny-looking bars and gastropubs opening up to cater to their new clientele.

The Stonhouse is one such gastropub, tucked away at the bottom of a quiet street near Clapham Common. It’s an attractive pub from the outside with a garden for warmer days. Once inside, the dining area is separate from the bar, and contained a smattering of couples dining quietly on the Tuesday night I visited.

The menu is ambitious, with dishes like foie gras terrine with brioche and fig jam (£7.25), and grilled chorizo salad with piquillo peppers (£6.50). I opted for the foie gras only to be bitterly disappointed; it looked like cheap supermarket pate, was as hard as butter and tasted like it too. To top it off it was served with ‘toasted’ French bread which was soggy. My companion fared a little better with the Portland crab cakes (£7), however the bread crumbs were too crispy on the outside to the point where they tasted burnt.

Onto the main courses. The spit roast pork belly (£12) was very tender however the skin contained very thick layers of fat. It’s a question of personal taste, however I prefer the skin to be at least slightly crispy. It was served with a sweet apple sauce and mashed potato.

Continuing with the ambitious theme I ordered the springbok steak (£13), which was by far the best dish we had. Having asked for the meat to be well done, it was on the verge of being crisp on the outside but still velvety on the inside, with herby wild mushrooms, a squash puree, and mashed potato. Two rashers of Alsace bacon were dropped over the top, which were essentially two slices of fat.

For desserts we chose the sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream (£5) and the selection of ice creams (£5) which consisted of a generous portion of coconut, chocolate and vanilla. Despite the comfort of the puddings I couldn’t help but feel The Stonhouse had bitten off more than they could chew with the menu. Mouthwatering at first glance, their dishes can’t seem to live up to their promise. I’d rather a hearty chicken pie over soggy toast any day.

Stonhouse

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