Old Bear

This was my second time at the new Bear and second time that I was disappointed. We went for Fathers Day and was really disappointed with the attitude of the staff. Our greeting on entering was ‘you’re late!’ — by ten minutes but hardly the reception that you would expect. Service was lousy and we were passed between several waiters during our lunch. I understand that it was a busy day but I was primarily very upset at the bad attitude of the staff, including having to ask 3 times for our bill and eventually having to insist at the bar. More significantly, this was the second we went and second time we were let down. Won’t be going again.

This is a great place to have excellent food situated in Cobham.
I had the Goats cheese mousse, English peas, mint, pine nuts £7…and guess what the peas were fresh and not frozen.
This was swiftly followed by Granny Smith trifle with cider granita at £6.50.
We ate outside as it was a lovely sunny day and we were lucky to have the umbrella — please note I say ‘the’ umbrella as we were told there was only one.
However if you are ever in the area make sure you go here because the food is a little different and so very tasty.
I have been here in the past for their Sunday lunch which I can whole heartedly recommend — provide you like your beef rare.
Would I go again — I plan to.

The out-​of-​town-​sister place to Islington’s now legendary The Albion, The Old Bear is a proper foodie pub. By that, I mean it has its very comfy «boozer» side — open fires, good beers on draught, assorted nooks and crannies to sit in, very decent bar snackage — and a very good restaurant attached.
As befits the area — Chelsea’s training ground is nearby, assorted footballers /​wealthy types live around there, it’s full-​on stockbroker belt — the food is a very classy affair, but happily, none of it goes the poncy route. This is real food, the sort of straightforward platefuls that make the menu hard to choose from.
Make that extremely hard. Unable to decide between mains, I went the «oh, I’ll have another two starters» route, hence after a shared platter of rillette, corned beef, etc., I satisfied my steak tartare cravings and then saw off a very fine chunk of duck that had been confited — if that’s a verb — and shredded with some lovely girolles and dotted with bits of quail’s egg. Blooming marvellous. Mind you, the companion’s lamb hotpot was enough to make me consider the error of my ways…
Puds were equally challenging. Affogato is one of my favourite all-​times finishers — how can you beat vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso? I’ll tell you how. With Arctic Roll. Homemade Arctic Roll. Talk about nostalgia, this was a pud that left me all giggly and feeling about eight again.
All of that, and those funky enomatic wine systems that make decent wines available by the glass. I knew I should have been a footballer. Gah.

A great find. If you’re in the area I can whole heartedly recommend it.