The Fox & Hounds

At first blush this Victorian pub, on a busy cut through in residential Battersea, seems like a workaday corner boozer but in fact is part of a chain of noted gastro pubs.

Richard and George Manners bought The Fox & Hounds early in 2001. Their names may ring a bell, since the brothers originally worked at The Eagle in Farringdon before going on to buy their first pub, The Atlas in Fulham. They have an established foodie reputation and The Fox & Hounds is justly noted for its Mediterranean-inspired grub.

Stereotypical gastro pub décor sees magnolia painted Anaglypta walls rise to a maroon ceiling with solid wooden tables on a bare wooden floor. Pot plants and ivy covered walls add to the secluded rear yard.

Although it's been gastrofied, this old boozer is not quite gentrified, and some regular old geezers mingle with the hip students and yummy mummies. Both enjoy the three well-kept three cask ales and the likes of Chimay on draught with 16 wines by the glass on a list of 40 plus bins.