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Carpenter's Arms
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RUNNER-UP - BEST NEW GASTROPUB
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Good sourcing and clever seasonal-ingredient combinations are at the heart of the Carpenter’s menus, but sadly the approach isn’t extended to the beer. There’s just one real ale – Adnams bitter – plus Amstel, Guinness and Addlestones cider on tap. Wines are available by both glass and carafe, and include an enjoyably fruity chilled gamay. You may have to drink in the sizeable garden, as priority is given to diners at this small corner pub. Sautéed lamb sweetbreads with succulent baby turnips, pickled grapes and dandelions, and a huge mound of fresh crab with radishes, red onion and mixed cress got our meal off to a stunning start. Roast halibut steak was overcooked, but sat on a delicious mound of cider-braised bacon, peas, lettuce and a sweet meaty broth. The kitchen gets details such as oven-hot, rugged bread right, so the McD-style french fries are a letdown. We consoled ourselves with excellent puds, including refreshing passion-fruit and pelargonium (geranium) jelly. The two blokes who turned up in tennis sweats and sat at the bar talking loudly over their pints underlined the clash between restaurant and pub, but also proved that perhaps it doesn’t matter here.
Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009
Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.
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Details
- 91 Black Lion Lane, Hammersmith, W6 9BG
- Area: Hammersmith
- Tel: 020 8741 8386
- Category: Gastropubs
- Travel: Stamford Brook tube
- Times: Open noon-11pm daily. Lunch served noon-2.30pm Mon-Fri; 12.30-3pm Sat; 12.30pm-4pm Sun. Dinner served 6.30-10pm Mon-Fri; 7-10pm Sat; 7.30-9.30pm Sun
- Price: Main courses £10.50-£17
- Credit cards: MC, V
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My third time in 6 months had Sunday lunch there. Not going back again, standard has gone from excellent to poor in regard to food - steak not what was advertised and overcooked. Staff as always were friendly and helpful.
have just returned from eating a most disappointing meal - slow and very rude service - food overcooked and poor taste.
Have eaten at this place many times and found it good to excellent previously.
Kitchen staff different.
runner up for the best gastropub of 2008? You must be joking! I was lured to Carpenter's Arms by the rave A.A.Gill review in Times... Well, the visit ruined my opinion of both reputations - that of the Times food critic and that of a '5 star' gastro pub. Maybe the owners were friends of A.A.Gill, maybe he just was recognised and got some extra treatment, maybe it was a lucky day in general, but such superlative review for such an inadequate pub, actually, is the worst thing that could happen to it. Why? Because you go there with quite high expectations, ready for a wonderful gastronomic experience - simple, but exquisite, in brief - 5* by A.A.Gill. What you get on your plate is inedible bone marrow - so salty, that even a lifelong lover of this peculiar delicacy could not eat it. You get a veal steak that makes you wonder about the chef's talent - you really do require a tanner's talent - to give the veal the consistence of a dry and tough shoe-sole. And you get the french fries - or pommes allumettes as they are called in their country of origin - that truly live up to their original name, allumettes - matchsticks - so dry, tough, overfried they were, that they should have come with a free dental clinic voucher. The chocolate dessert was a bit better and might have looked sophisticated to those used only to treacle puddings, but in fact could benefit from a better balance. I only give one star just for the sake of rating, when in fact the Carpenter's Arms deserve none, the Times readers deserve an appology from A.A.Gill for such misleading reviews, and the chef deserves our forgiveness - with a condition, that he'll get back to basics and at least learns how to make decent pommes allumettes. And the customers of a '5* runner-up for the best gastropub of 2008' deserve the much, much improved food. Until then, for the price of a meal at Carpenter's Arms I recommend you to grab a discount Eurostar ticket and hop over the channel to Paris, to some decent brasserie - a one without the rave reviews, without 5 stars and 'runner up' titles, but at least with pomme allumettes as they should be...
Six of us get together regularly for a long leisurely Sunday lunch somewhere local and today was our first visit to the Carpenter's Arms (on a few recommendations). We are not into splitting hairs about whether it is a pub or a restaurant, we wanted it all and they more than delivered! Some might say we are fussy but we had superb food, good wines, excellent service - all in a great atmosphere. We all left very contented planning to go back as soon as possible.
ignore all the negative comments, i think they went to the wrong place. Bloody excellent
great.
Like Leigh (jan 11) we tried to go there for Lunch (sunday) - it was about 2.30pm knowing based on the website that lunch finished at 3pm.
We were told there were fully booked and full, when there was clearly 3 tables that were not occupied.
Gutted we went to the Old Ship (not the culinary lunch we were hoping for but at least we were fed).
Shame.
We are not ones for having to book.. let alone a pub.
We arrived and were swiftly seated at our table. The drinks order was taken and delivered. Then nothing. For 35 minutes. After 3 requests for someone to take our order and just as we were on the verge of leaving the waitress finally returned. No apology for the delay - and its not like the place was busy. The choice was not huge (certainly didn't need 35 minutes to make a decision) and overall wasn't worth waiting for. Theres better food and better service to be had in the area.
Walked in on a Friday evening at 6.00pm - asked for a table - but the young lady told us that they were 'full'.
Of the capacity of around 60 places - 6 - yes 6 - were taken!!!!! Unless they were expecting a rush of 54 people in the next hour then....
The customer friendly approach would have been to either 'fit us in' or ask us to leave the table by x time. Obviously they didn't want the work - nor the money. With one sitting per evening - either expect prices to go up or this establishment to fail.....