The Armoury

The Armoury is a great pub in Wandsworth in the south of London. It’s old. In fact it is Wandsworth’s oldest pub. And it remains today a wonderfully friendly and relaxed place for a pint. The décor is built around a comfortable living room motif. There’s even a small outdoor garden in the warmer months.
But maybe the best time to visit is for their Sunday carvery. Sunday roast is a British tradition that is always pleasing to the taste buds. And a carvery pub will usually offer up a selection of roasted meats to accompany a buffet. The Sunday carvery at the Armoury is excellent with a choice of lamb, beef, or chicken and then an all you can eat buffet with a wide selection of veggies and other trimmings. You won’t leave hungry. And with their great selection of beers including the legendary Young’s bitter, you won’t leave thirsty either!

One of my favourite pubs in London, hands down. Can’t rate it high enough.

In many ways this is a fairly typical pub: leather sofas, tables and a variety of games (I spotted jenga and connect 4) to help patrons while away the time. But what sets this place apart from its rivals is its food, which was unexpectedly good and generously portioned, My sweet potato and goats cheese pie was noticeably larger than usual and was accompanied by a sizeable serving of mashed potato, delicious minted mushy peas and plenty of thick gravy. Also praiseworthy are the relatively cheap pints of Samsbrook Wandle it sells (under £3), a beer it should almost be required to sell considering it’s practically on the Wandle delta, their better range of ales compared to typical Youngs pubs in the area, free wifi and the friendly bar staff. Definitely recommended if you’re after some hearty grub and/​or a good choice of ales compared to local pubs.

One of the closest of 14 sister Youngs pubs within a mile of their old and now sadly boarded-​up Ram Brewery, The Crane was a rather run-​down, outdated inn stuck in an unfortunate spot midway round the wicked Wandsworth one-​way system. Passing trade must have rarely given in to any sort of temptation.
Much like some kind of brilliantly beery Bananaman though, an amazing transformation has occurred.
Over the last 6(?) months or so, new management has stoked up the real wood fire and then refurbished, repainted, and revitalised a public house that could so easily have died like The Wheatsheaf down the road. I’ve even heard tell of Sunday papers and board games.
Facilities feature a decent courtyard out back for smokers with discreet covered alcoves for small groups of friends/​couples, I see the website lists Wi-​Fi, and the toilets are immaculate. There is also a pub quiz every Wednesday around 7/7.30.
My own personal experience of the place began with a look at the menu — more reasonably priced than the cars raced on Top Gear and the service was just as nippy. I had crayfish spaghetti and my girlfriend had a burger. Having tried both — the things I do for you, Qypers — I can safely say that they were both super, smashing and gratefully wolfed down.
The menu — which appears to be attached on this very page — features tapas and their £10 Tuesdays offer (3 dishes + drinks) is taunting me. Roasts are done on a Sunday.
The second aspect I encountered was the service. We couldn’t quite remember which cider we’d liked from a pub in Clapham, and ummed and ahhed about the bar for a bit like one of the Wurzels with amnesia. It took just a few seconds before the barman offered a taster to stimulate both taste buds and brain cells. Splendid.
The drinks were typically Young’s, as one would expect mere tens of metres from their historical home, as well as bottled beers from the brewery they had to merge with — Charles Wells. This means you can make a beeline for Waggle Dance, queue for Kew, take a shot at a Bombardier, and let a Banana Bread Beer slip down.
My only quibble was the number of beers on draught. The Young’s and Sambrook’s (Junction and not Wandle made for a very pleasant change) were very well kept and were wonderfully refreshing, but I’d have liked another two ales to choose from four pumps. Their Twitter feed tells me that they do rotate their beers and include guest ales (Butcombe recently, for any other beardy weirdies like me who might read this).
If my only incredibly minor gripe is for more of the same, then that tells you all you need to know about this friendly pub.