The Hour Glass
Traditional pub atmosphere with a good selection of ales and a robust menu
"Located just a couple of minutes' walk from South Ken station the Hour Glass is a great place to drop in to meet for an after work drink, or to join friends and family for dinner or lunch.
"The bar snacks menu looks appetising and is reasonably priced, most items being around the £5 mark. The pub's signature dish of triple cooked beef dripping chips with garlic mayo is available at £4.50 – and it's delectable.
"Moving upstairs to the dining room the main menu is robust and pleasingly short but, it should be noted, there's only a nod to vegetarians.
"The dining room is calm and pleasingly lit and offers a direct view into the kitchen. Service was excellent – friendly and personal without being overly familiar and couldn't be faulted. Now for the food – oh, the food! For my starter I chose the crab parfait. Tasting firmly of very fresh crab, with both brown and white meats, the parfait was light and delicious and the accompaniment of matchstick apple, kohlrabi and watercress the perfect foil. My companion's starter of ricotta dumplings was equally enthusiastically received - accompanied by purple sprouting broccoli, brown butter and toasted almonds this would make an excellent light lunch on its own.
"It was hard to choose a main course but I plumped for duck breast. I hoped it would be pink, and it was. Accompanied by parsnips, hazelnuts and celeriac and rhubarb chutney it definitely met expectations and side order of Brussels sprouts – my all-time favourite vegetable – was perfect. My companion voted for the rabbit , ham and cider pie which featured the lightest of puff pastry lids and was pronounced excellent, as were the famous thrice-cooked chips. Seasoning throughout was great. No surprise but no room for puddings, but if they are of the same quality as the rest of our meal, don't hold back!
"Wines start at £18 a bottle, with a reasonable selection within the £20 - £30 price range. If your taste extends to a superb Margaux you're looking at something rather closer to £100, but the Spanish house red, a Tempranillo from Extremadura, did not disappoint.
"Even at 7p.m. the dining room was 90% full indicating that you'd be wise to book to experience this very fine pub food."
Jane Martin
March 9, 2016
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