Pubs on Northcote Road

There seems to be a revolution taking place on Northcote Road, in terms of the pubs in any case. Up until now there have been a few trendy bars, and an All Bar One and a Pitcher and Piano. When R lived around the corner we used to go to the Goat on Battersea Rise, but it got really busy and is terribly dark.

We were therefore really pleased when we saw that Geronimo had taken over the Northcote. This pub has always had a great location, on the corner of Northcote Road and Battersea Rise, but it was definitely a football pub, and tended to be heaving. I have written about some of the Geronimo pubs before. They definitely have a formula, but it is one that we like and so I’m sure we will continue to frequent them. Particularly since they keep taking over our local pubs! There isn’t much to add on the Northcote at the moment, but I’m sure we will be eating there some time soon.

Then when I was running in the area I noticed the Bolingbroke. This has also been refurbished, and it turns out has been taken over by Renaissance Pubs, who also run four other pubs in South West London. We went for a drink, and it seems like a really good pub. It was fairly quiet, which we weren’t complaining about as it meant we could get a seat. They also have some more unusual offerings, such as Fentimans tonic water, which we had never come across before. I love their ginger beer (which is what I was drinking) so I am very interested to try the tonic at some point. We may have to go back to the Bolingbroke to test it, as we haven’t managed to find it anywhere else! The menu looked interesting too, so I think it deserves a return visit.

Finally there is the Draft House, which is run by the same people as the Westbridge on Battersea Bridge Road. This is opening some time this week, but I was lucky enough to get a bit of a preview as Eatlikeagirl had organized a meet-up to talk about the Blaggers Banquet (more on that to follow). The pub was still surrounded by hoardings, but it is a nice space. They have an impressive beer selection, both pumps and bottles. Anyone going in there looking for a pint of Fosters will get a bit of a shock, since they probably won’t recognize any of the beers. The staff have obviously been well trained on the stock as well, and seemed genuinely enthusiastic about it. Shame I can’t drink beer!

We also we given a preview of the bar snacks. Unfortunately I couldn’t eat quite a few of them, but I think that Padron peppers are a great idea for a bar snack. I also enjoyed the chorizo and baby squid. The breaded Ox tongue with beetroot relish was getting the most reaction, some good and some bad! I definitely want to return here once they are open properly.

So now we seem to have a dilemma if we want to go to the pub on the Northcote Road – which one to go to? It’s a nice dilemma to have.