The Idle Hour

Among the myriad clocks that serve as decoration at this quant little pub, there’s one, apparently, that tells the right time – but we’ve never found it. Staff, though, always make time for customers who simply want to pop in for a pint of real ale or a glass of organic wine, despite the Idle Hour (an offshoot of a similarly named Barnes boozer) giving great importance to food. The menu contains much that is fashionable – from minted lamb with bulgur wheat & pomegranate salad, to sea bass with steamed clams – but more popular, it seems, are the burgers (half price on Mondays) with goose-fat fries. Spend an idle summer hour in the garden here & it’s easy to forget about the pulsating metropolis outside.