The Open Guide to London: the free London guide

The Grapes

A fantastic pub, with an amazing menu. Very traditional, no music, no mobile phones, and a cheery atmosphere. Very very good food and friendly but firm staff. Do remember to turn off your mobile phone, I've once seen the landlady sneak up to a regular, who was yabbering on his phone, snatch the mobile and drop it in his half full pint.

Drinks

Guinness. Adnams. Strongbow. Stella. Kronenburg. many others probably.

Layout

The pub is quite small, in a listed riverside building. The narrow doorway leads into a little reception space crammed with little tables and benches on the side, all very traditional dark stained wood and brass. The squeeze past the long bar leads you to the a similarly cramped, but usable set of tables and an outdoor terrace onto the river which is lovely, but table-less in summer, freezing bloody cold in winter.

The toilets are upstairs, as is a large restaurant area where you can but the same food as in the bar for twice the price. I've never been up there.

Food

Really amazingly good fish (during the week), delicious pints of shrimps or prawns and the best chips anywhere in London. The fishcakes with new potatoes and caper sauce are spectacular, filling and feel very good for you.

It's very reasonably priced too, so well worth a visit if you need a good feed, a nice atmosphere and a few pints. The fishcakes and (excellent) fish and chips are GBP6.50ish, and well worth it. The ploughman's lunch is good too, and the lobster bisque is so wonderfully hearty it's difficult to describe.

At weekends they do a good roast too (which these days is worth noting on its own). Also worth noting that the Adnams is Adnams Southwold and very well kept.

Entertainment

Conversation only. A very good rule in my opinion.