The Atlas

Mmmmm, The Atlas. A proper pub that serves delicious and interesting food. What more could you want? Whether it's a Catalan casserole with a large glass of Rioja in front of an open fire on a dark winters night or pan fried sea trout and chick pea puree with a cold Sauvignon Blanc in the (small) garden on a summers day the food never disappoints. Expect a relaxed unpretentious crowd atypical of its Fulham (well West Brompton) location. The only variable can be the bar staff. Some are charming and friendly, some miserable. One man is quite rude and several of them don't appear to speak English. Think of it as a lottery. Fortunately it's one that you are guaranteed to win when the food arrives.

I am SO disappointed I can't tell you. I used to really rate this pub, for its staff, ambience, and most of all its food. Persuaded my boyfriend to meet me there the other day. Really talked it up. What a mistake. The staff were surly and indifferent. And the food. Well, I had pasta with clams. It was good, but nothing special, could have done it better at home to be honest. I decided to have a glass of white wine to go with it. a pinot. not such a big issue you might think. except it came warm. i don't mean room temperature, i mean warm. I asked for or a cold glass of wine or even some ice and the staff looked at me as if I was bonkers. a glass of COLD pinot grigio they seemed to say. Incredible! I took my ice and watered the bl**dy thing to bits and drank my spritzer and ate my pasta. but that wasn't even the half of it. my boyfriend ordered a rib eye. he got a lesson in how to get a steak wrong, and then how to get customer service wrong. it turned up as THE most unappetizing piece of grey stringy meat you could ever hope not to see. it was all soft and horrible. The boyfriend wasn't going to complain but I was having none of it. I took it back to the bar (as no one had come to see if we were ok) and when I explained the problem, the manager just looked at me again as if I was mad. Look at it I said. he asked if we didn't want it rare after all!! rare yes, cooked under or on a warm grill so no flavour or texture was added NO! so he said he would speak to chef. He then came to the table and asked boyf if he would like something else as if they did another steak it would come out the same. what, crap we both cried??? we were determined now (especially me as I had long finished my meal) to get this steak so we described how to cook a rib eye rare and out came a perfect delicious steak. NOT what you expect from a foodie gastro pub. We will not be returning. Alas for the Atlas.