Battersea bars and pubs

The downside to this trendy Battersea boozer? It’s impossible to describe to your mates without it sounding like some kind of wanky hipster hangout. They’ve got their own micro-brewery. They distill their own gin. They keep an escape game in the basement. There’s even a retro gaming room upstairs that lets you project ‘Street Fighter 2’ across an entire wall. ‘Jesus Christ!’ your pals will probably exclaim: ‘What’s it called? “The Artisanal Sourdough?”’ It is, however, a brilliantly down-to-earth place to spend a night. It’s a beautifully refurbed Victorian palace that’s full of wall-mounted taxidermy, scuffed wooden floors and pretty vintage tiling. Aside from their own-distilled gin, the 45 gins they offer – alongside a range of more exotic tonics than a Chinese medicine shop – means there’s plenty for spirit hounds to explore. And the games room? We defy you to find a more fun night out in Balham. It’s packed with ping-pong, table football, old arcade games and a totally nutso racing game. Booze and racing? Jeremy Clarkson would approve. Don’t let that put you off, though.

Mezcal and tacos are achingly, unavoidably ‘in’ at the moment, so it was a surprise that Cartel – a Battersea joint specialising in both – was near empty on my Thursday night visit. That might be because the box of a room (dominated by a spacious bar area) is clearly designed for buzzy weekend boozing. But it was more likely down to the dreamy alt-country music being blasted out at high volume, courtesy of a guitar-twiddling chap on the floor. A shame really, as it’s a pretty nifty place: bare-brick walled, with faux Mexican ephemera dotted about, and party-ready. This is primarily a place for knocking back cocktails (or straight spirits – there’s a hidden mezcal tasting room that staff can grant permission to), and the drinks are good. Pasión del Mezcalero was warming, citrussy and heady with alcohol while a Tommy’s Margarita (with agave in place of triple sec) was a zesty foil to the food, the highlights of which were moreish chorizo-stuffed quesadillas and brilliant mango-topped and pulled-pork-piled corn tacos. Excellent booze food, basically. Modish it might be, but Cartel mostly hits its target.

This Northcote Road branch is one of eight Draft Houses in London now - a sign, perhaps, that they must be doing something right. The focus is on carefully sourced and served beer but food plays an important role too, with a US influence coming through on the burgers, hot dogs, pulled pork buns and Americanised salads.  It's the beer, though, that pulls in most punters - and the fact that they are available by the one-third pint does wonders for a little exploration. They obviously take their brews pretty seriously, with a regularly changing selection ranging from local brews like Camden Hells and Redchurch IPA to Stiegl Goldbräu, Pilsner Urquell and St. Stefanus Belgian Ale - all on tap. They brew their own beer too, naturally.   

A family-friendly pub with toys and board games, cask and craft ales, a beer garden and a roaring fire for the winter months.

If you’ve been waiting patiently for a kitsch, tongue-in-cheek bar that pays homage to the playful side of Italy, with party-animal PM Silvio Berlusconi as the poster boy, you’re in luck.

You don’t expect to find a bar like Lost Angel along this sorry-looking stretch of the Battersea Park Road, but there is a precedent: this building was once home to Dusk, which brought a little glamour to the street.

Lost Society has occupied this warren of rooms since the 1980s, which makes it a veteran of south London’s bar scene. And its appeal continues, partly, no doubt, because of the variety of its offering.

With the Albert Bridge closed for repairs, this big, corner site gastropub should have become a quiet backwater, as passing traffic has virtually ceased. Not so.