Tooting bars and pubs

This part of Tooting seems to take an ultra-literal approach to naming businesses – just over the road from this new spot is the Long Room bar (pretty lengthy), and I spotted The Medical Centre (yes, a doctor’s) nearby.

Hard to spot but impressive once you find it, this converted tram shed incorporates a cavernous, chandelier-lit main bar and a smaller mezzanine, filled with decorative quirks and televisions for football viewing.

This prominent corner pub opposite Tooting Bec tube used to be a rough joint inhabited by slightly scary alcoholics. Now, there are mismatched mirrors on the walls, red leather chesterfields, Daft Punk on the sound system, and a big sign above the bar stating, optimistically, ‘Yummy food coming soon’.

A few years into its refurbished reincarnation as a gastropub, this spacious Tooting boozer may have lost a little of its initial sparkle, but it’s still undoubtedly one of the area’s best pubs.

The congested road between Tooting and Colliers Wood might not be the first place you’d look for a fine local gastropub, but this railway tavern perched above Tooting train station was taken over by the Charles Wells pub company in 2012 and given a major overhaul. In collaboration with the Yummy Pub Company, it now boasts a remarkably ambitious menu of small eats and more substantial main courses. We couldn’t fault either our pie and chips or a club sandwich - though, if anything, the dish presentation was verging on the overly fussy (a bit like the new decor). To drink, there’s a decent selection of ales, and if you’re in the mood for a bit of local cinema, the basement has been converted into a small screening room with blockbuster-style movies such as the ‘Bourne’ series.

The Castle has been home to a public house since 1832, although its newly revamped decor is anything but 19th century. This Young's pub now features a British gastropub menu with Meantime brews in tanks, among many other tipples. The new garden - where a car park used to be – was added in summer 2014. It has various outdoor seating areas including cabana-style huts and outdoor heating on demand. The menu holds few surprises - burgers, pies, roast meats, fish and chips. Our chicken, ham and leek pie was standard pub fare, served with mash and a tiny and superfluous  saucepan of gravy. The main attraction here is undoubtedly the garden (on warm days).