Prince of Wales

The opening of a gastropub in south-west London is unlikely to raise any eyebrows, but one that delivers on all fronts deserves to turn heads. Formerly a rough football fans’ boozer, the scrubbed up Prince of Wales still feels like a pub & takes its cooking very seriously. A list of suppliers & the season’s produce is chalked up on a blackboard at one end of the homely dining room, while a small kitchen chugs away at the other. The simple, staunchly British menu is a good match for the unpretentious surroundings. Rich potted duck & a chunky terrine of partridge arrive on neat wooden boards with smoky toast. Main courses are just as well judged: meltingly tender confit lamb breast & mash with an intense bacon & onion gravy, & delicately flavoured fillets of roasted sea bass, which needed little more embellishment than a stack of purple sprouting broccoli. With prices just shy of the £15 mark for mains, & helpful service eager to transmit the kitchen’s enthusiasm, it’s little surprise that the dining room is filling up as word spreads.