The Rookery in Lambeth

Great bar, came for 1 stayed till 3am

Enjoyed the friendly atmosphere, plus the spiral staircase is a charming feature! I've added it to my barguide.london site too!

I come to this local pub quite often. Great service, friendly atmosphere and good drink selection. No food, unfortunately - but we sometines get food delivered and have a great time there.

Good choices of drink. friendly environment. Food not available.

Very rundown bar. The staff was great. The owner needs to invest in this little gold mine. A pure suntrap but needs attention.

Great atmosphere, staff and prices with indoor and outdoor options

One of my local pubs - never had a problem finding a seat and a table which is a major plus! Good selection of cocktails, but I’m mostly there for the wine. Sadly I’m just a tad too old to attend their speed dating (photo included), so my friend suggested I try slow dating instead, which would mean I get to meet men and take naps. I’ll suggest it to them next time I’m there.

It's a pub. Clapham is full of pubs, I'd probably go to one with a bit more vibe.

I would like it even more if they did food,

Good place to spend with friends for a drink. No food menu spotted

I went there for a shift, the staff was absolutely professional, and everyone there was really friendly.

Very friendly staff! Great place to go for a drink after volleyball on Thursday

Best little pub/wine bar in south Clapham, the diverse locals are really friendly, so are the staff and the prices are very reasonable for London. Great for watching sport, outside TVs, I will definitely go back if I'm in the area again.

A fine Street side pub, the Rookery is a great addition to the Clapham pub scene. Simple but has all you need for a fine drink. Plenty on offer from the keg. Unfortunately, not one for the real ale drinker, no cask ales (as far as I can tell) The 'Lost' lager was good, clear, cold and crisp. Lovely staff at the bar, friendly, quick and efficient. A most enjoyable visit. Also, there is a spiral staircase here, always a winner 🏆

Amazing staff!!! Great place to stop and have a few cocktails.

Niceeeee! Good food, good drinks, good people! I recommend this place!

Great value beer in London, good spot to sit outside too

Great place to have a beer and look out over Clapham Common staff really friendly and helpful

Awful bar, awful customer service, and awful music

Dog friendly, nice staff, Guinness is pretty good!

Had roast beef and a roast chicken superb dinners we were both very pleased was a becent size and the meat was amazing

Great pub very accommodating and great staff

I really like this pub. Before Covid, it built a fantastic reputation as a place to have a great meal by the Common. It's open again (currently without kitchen, until things are properly back to normal), and is still brilliant for summer drinks. It has a large outside area with a retractable awning for when the showers hit. There's a good selection of beers on tap including some of the "craft" brands (quotes because they are pretty mainstream now). Recently it's become a very popular football pub, during the Euros tournament - it's always packed a couple of hours before kick off, with a great atmosphere. Lots of screens, and playlists of England songs in the build-up, to get everyone singing. I've found the staff to be really helpful even on these extremely busy nights when they are rushed off their feet. No pub is perfect, but this is one of the better ones. Would recommend.

Great friendly place and staff. Good drinks

Great football Atmosfear good Tv's good service good beer what more do you need I will be going back

I would just like to confirm that Paul kerr comment is not fake, the customer service was very poor. Staff have no patients and don't care about their customers, toilets were very dirty and had toilet paper everywhere. If you are looking for a good pub for you and your friends/family to go to I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE AT ALL.

Couldn't have dreamt up a better place for sunset beers pre-end of lockdown. Perfect.

Nice enough, fairly expensive though

A fairly nice place. The drinks selection is simple, with a very small selection of draft or guest ales. It didnt seem like they were serving food when we were there, as all we could get were a packet of crisps.

Good bar style food at a good price. Great place for drinks in summer with lots of outdoor space

Classy, lovely drinks, friendly staff and looks right out on the common 😍

Really friendly bar staff, quick service and nice cold beers!

Really nice place to sit and have a drink after a day at the park

Lovely pub. Amazing service. The bar manager is a legend. Highly recommend for a cheeky pint.

Variety of snacks, nice owner behavior, so friendly.

Un poco de frío y parecía que la persona con las llaves se había abierto y se había ido a casa dejando a todo el personal joven a cargo del lugar y solo era tarjeta sin efectivo, pero la comida era buena, porciones de buen tamaño.

Too busy to cope with orders...tables served before us due to a mistake in the kitchen. Left after 1.5 hours , were served the chicken wing starters ( which weren't great) very disappointing as Sunday roasts there are awesome . Will go back on a sunday and put this down to being short staffed.

Nice place, the blonde lady who works on Friday night is very rude though, atleast worked there last 3 Fridays since 18th Jan 2020. And looks unhappy all the time. 3 times now, we go in as a group of over 5 and we all think it's hard to communicate with her. We feel quite unwelcome.

Found the Rookery after walking past many times and finally deciding to go in for a drink, has now become a regular to pop in for a drink on route home.

Vinimos para el asado del domingo. Nuestra mesa tenía cinco personas, por lo que no era un grupo particularmente grande. De todos modos, muchos problemas. Oy! Nuestra mesa no estaba lista para nuestra reserva, la comida tardó una hora y diez minutos en llegar (aunque una comida llegó quince minutos antes que el resto y ya se había comido cuando llegaron las comidas de los demás), cuando llegó la mía, el pollo estaba seco y demasiado cocido, y para mis amigos que ordenaron la carne de res, el tamaño de la porción estaba por todas partes (tenían que igualar la carne ellos mismos). El mío tampoco vino con un pudín de Yorkshire como se anuncia en el menú (el camarero también trató de argumentar que no se suponía que tuviera uno, hasta que lo señalé en el menú, momento en el que dijo algo similar) de "oh, está bien, pero te conseguiré uno de todos modos" ... lo cual fue un poco irritante). Como último golpe, dos de nosotros pedimos el pudín de caramelo pegajoso, que se suponía que debía venir con crema pastelera, pero vino con crema. Había escuchado cosas buenas, así que estaba muy decepcionado. No volvería a comer aquí de nuevo.

Nice atmosphere, good prices, tele for matches, lovely stuff.

Lugar bastante bonito, fuimos a almorzar el domingo. Mesa para 10 personas, así que sabía que la comida no saldría volando, pero esperamos más de una hora para los asados del domingo. El lugar estaba lleno pero muy pocas mesas tenían comida. No puedo entender cómo los asados tomaron tanto tiempo, ya que es solo un caso de servir la comida en lugar de cocinar diferentes platos frescos a la orden. La comida no salvó la experiencia, se veía genial pero sabía muy soso. El elemento más sabroso era la cebolla roja, no la carne de res, las papas o la salsa. La larga espera y la comida decepcionante empeoró por el 15% del cargo por servicio que se agregó a nuestra factura; no pagamos esto. Esperaba un buen almuerzo para los 16. 50 (4.40 para una Coca-Cola Light...) Pero queda muy insatisfecho. El personal fue lo suficientemente amable y quitó el almuerzo de mi compañero de la cuenta debido a un pelo en su comida. Podría haber pagado mucho menos en otro lugar por una comida mejor y más rápida.

Realmente no entiendo cómo sobrevive este lugar. Muy descuidado bar. Pedí Blood Marys. Casi imposible de beber. La comida tardó 50 minutos en llegar, a pesar de que somos dos de solo seis personas en el lugar. Muy básico, completamente cocido, dos partes realmente no comestibles. Todavía intenté cobrarnos por el servicio. Demasiado caro. No hay muchos lugares en la ciudad que puedas describir como "pobres" y "demasiado caros", pero The Rookery es uno.

My favourite place for Sunday roast, specially pork belly, its delicious. Portions are big at reasonable price. Small cozy place with nice staff

One of the loveliest pubs in Clapham. Very nice atmosphere and very tasty food

Solo he estado en Rookery una vez y la pasé muy bien. El pub tiene una agradable área de asientos al frente y el personal es amable y cordial. No comí aquí, pero las bebidas eran geniales.

Buona selezione di birre. I love Ipa

Really nice place, a bit pricey though so take plenty of cash.

2nd time here. Good location, food as before was great, staff really helpful and a really nice atmosphere. Definitely my go to place when in the area. Will definitely be back.

Been there before but I swear it’s better than ever. If you haven’t tried this hide away bar with its lovely cuisine then you’re missing out. Carl (the chef) works miracles with flavours, I don’t know how he does it. Go for the buttermilk chicken. It’s to die for. There is a menu for everyone, veggies as well. This Aussie bar is authentic down to the barman Darcy. A friendly and welcoming place with great atmosphere it was a pleasure to eat there.

The food and service at the Rookery is exceptional, the staff are so friendly and helpful and the food served by the chefs is second to none!! I had the Roast Pork Belly and I can definitely say I’ll be back again for more! Even under the pump they are still able to deliver great food!

Having driven a group of ladies up to Clapham Common for the Moonwalk we decided to have a pre-walk fuel up at the Rookery. The food was really good, the portions very generous and the staff, although young, were really friendly and efficient. The prices I think were also reasonable. Good ambiance and would recommend.

Friendly staff, amazing management Good food!

Horrible experience! The food came late and cold, also very expensive for the quality of the food. I would never come back to that place.

Came across this bar walking along Clapham common. Really cosy and such a nice vibe! Had the cider pork with parmesan polenta - really tasty comfort food. My boyfriend had the buttermilk chicken with mac and cheese which was also amazing. Would recommend and will definitely be back!

Personale e servizio fantastici, il cibo viene servito in tempi brevissimi ed è davvero buono, consigliato se si è di passaggio

I’ve never been somewhere where you just don’t get food. We ordered at 3pm and were told it would be a 40 minute wait. That 40 mins went on for an hour and after that we asked several times when our food was coming and they would say it’s coming and it just never came. Two hours later we had no food. The staff were very nice but honestly that was the most terrible dining experience of my life.

Visited for an anniversary dinner and left very happy. We were given time to look through the menu, were not rushed to order all our courses, and there was no pressure to order extra drinks. Food: We started with the cured meats and cheese, and padron peppers which was delicious! Next we had the sweet potato and chickpea burger, and buttermilk chicken and mac'n'cheese (which was so so good!). The chicken was a little too crispy/too much batter but the chicken was moist and tender. Drinks: The cocktails were delightful, and they offer 2 cocktails mix'n'match for £10 on Fridays. Atmosphere: Lovely, chilled and relaxed, if a little cold (wrap up warm!). Unfortunately a large group arrived and squeezed in next to us at the end of our mains which initiated our departure, which was a shame. Staff: Very welcoming and friendly and more than happy to show good hospitality, taking time to talk to us and make drinks perfectly. Overall: We will definitely be returning and I would advise anyone to visit. Prices are average for the area and great value for what you get.

I was very disappointed with the food and service. On the evening I visited for dinner with a group, the bar service was slow, our 7 meals were brought out several minutes apart, and my food was served cold & and under-cooked. The pub had run out of the nut roast at 6:30pm which as a vegan I was unhappy with. My friends ordered the Turkey roast and were served frozen pigs in blankets (they paid £18.50 for the meal, which even if the entire meal had been properly cooked, would still have been too expensive for the quality and portion). We were not compensated with any gesture of goodwill to mitigate the poor service and frozen food that was served.

Best pub in Clapham for a calm evening

Nice pub, great staff and good food. Not as crowded as other places around, so not a long wait for drinks and food

On a day of ‘new beginnings’ for a precious family member we attended this establishment to celebrate! We had Lunch. From the outset we were met & seated with friendliness & good hospitality. After selecting our dishes we didn’t have to wait long .... maybe 20 mins for starters. All food served was of good quality & plentiful & the meat portion was handsome & crackling on pork was Fist Class. Dessert was simply scrumptious. Treacle tart & custard. All flavours were wonderful. I would, without hesitation, give 5* but I felt a larger portion of vegetables would be more acceptable. That aside, we had a splendid time. Enhanced by staff member Catherine who met our banter with grace & good humour & delighted us with her friendliness & beautiful smile. Thanku to all concerned for making our day perfect!

My friend and I booked for a Sunday roast. We had our meals bought to us and the presentation of my friends beef roast was awful. My nut roast looked good, but when I started eating it tasted terrible. The gravy was dior and it ruined the whole meal, the potatoes were underdone, and the best part about the roast was the kale, this should never be the case! I rarely complain, but I was not happy paying for a meal that was so bad I only ate a quarter of it. Things got considerably worse when dealing with the young aggressive waitress who rudely back chatted us and failed to get her manager who was seen to be hiding behind the bar. I think it speaks volumes that a manager wouldnt want to deal with customers complaining about their food, is it because he knew it was downright disgusting? The whole experience was awful, from the food to the poor customer service. To make things worse we have since emailed the owner to complain about this particular waitress and the way in which we were treated, and after 3 weeks, are still yet to receive the courtesy of a reply. So many far nicer pubs/ bars around the area, don't risk this place for a 'nice' meal.

Comida bem preparada, porém um pouco apimentada demais. Mas vale a visita ao loca que, além de agradável tem excelente atendimento.

Me and a couple of friends ate here last night. The starters were fine we had the padron peppers and calamari..HOWEVER the mains took an awful lot time to come out and when they did the rice tasted old and came out warm rather than hot. The vegetables looked like scraps of the last veg they could find it the kitchen (see pictures), the fish was totally dry and over cooked..they served Chinese veg with a very tradiitonal fish a chips meal..again that veg was presented like scraps, the vegan option had all the veg mushy as if it had been over cooked and reheated from yesterday drenched in oil. We all had two or three mouthfuls and left our plates. When I complained the manager cheekily said he would take off the bills drinks and service charge....keeping in mind we had two water and two glasses of wine between us plus service charge is not a mandatory payment in the UK so I could have asked for it be lifted anyway. When disputing this they seemed to even be sorry and told me everyone else in the restaurant ate it....then they returned back with a bill that removed two starters and the wine..I felt totally insulated and dismissed. Overall, food was absolutely terrible and service almost matched that standard being a level 4 reviewer this is by far the worst food I have ever had in London. Don't waste your time or money.

Great variety of beers, reasonable prices compared to others in the area, good food, great atmosphere, relaxed, good efficient bar staff

Found this bar and restaurant wanted some decent food had the haddock with 3 times cooked chips and it was delicious. Would recommend if you want great food with friendly staff and a selection of craft beers.

Almost an hour of waiting for plate of Sunday roast. Food ok but nothing special. Gravy is shop bought and it's from powder. Don't recommend that place.

Great food, great service! We went here with friends on a Friday evening. We ordered five different dishes, all served with care and quality. Would definitely recommend!

Listed as craft and draught beer location. Seemed to be limited on all, and served by staff with little knowledge. Was pulled two draught purity bunny hops which had obviously gone. Obviously very cloudy, but not not noted by staff who treated us with disdain on refusing them. Had purity longhorn instead which was also cloudy, fortunately this was supposed to be. Nice setting, shame about the staff and beer on this occassion.

Perfect location beside Clapham Common, good selection of beers, great for an after work drink!

Service charge applied to full bill. Don't like this practice. Pro tip - pay for drinks separately. At 12.5% Over 4 drinks it will cost you an additional drink.

Lovely Sunday roast, excellent service, and nice and cool on a hot Sunday afternoon.

Hearty with great food and a pokestop

The menu here is great. Lots of gastro pubs try the Mediterranean meze thing and fail. These guys nail it. There's a really nice local boozer feel to the place too. We loved it.

Just watch the sun setting in a drunken stupor :o)

didn't do table service outside, but still tried to charge service charge after ordering at the bar, getting my own cutlery, and being rude and dismissive. no calamari in the calarami! food poor quality and not cheap. and slow service. worst estrella i've ever had, which makes me think the pipes aren't cleaned regularly

Camden Hells on tap which is always a bonus! Starters were a little over priced but main courses were lovely/much better value. We arrived with both toddler and dog in tow (big group of 8); staff were very accommodating. Would recommend you book ahead though, especially when the weather is good on the common. Some outdoor seating but not much in the shade

Éramos un grupo de 3 situada junto a una alocada fiesta de 12. Esperamos un tiempo para tomar una copa y luego uno de nosotros tuvo que levantar a pedir un poco de pan. Nuestra orden fue finalmente tomada y una hora más tarde después de un recordatorio de nosotros llegamos el primer curso. La mía era una excelente caballa patés pero los demás tenían un mínimo de arranque/pastel calamares fishcake que venía con salsa tártara y mismo tipo pronto y bien comido antes de terminada mi paté. Otra media hora y un recordatorio adicional transcurrido antes conseguí mi sabrosa merluza, pero los otros 2 tenía un muy cansado stroganoff que debe haber sido al menos 2 días antes y un incomible burger que venía con un montón de patatas fritas y unos bocados de carne cruda picados. Este fue enviado y nunca regresar porque en ese momento la persona pidiendo que no habían perdido el interés y cancelado sorprendentemente. Un lugar agradable, pero pésimo servicio y aunque el personal era amable, el estándar de la comida aparte de la mía era totalmente inaceptable. El restaurante tiene potencial, pero si no pueden servir comida en un tiempo razonable y en un buen nivel, no deben cobrar precios bastante altos por el valor nulo o en negocios.

Of a party of 3 I was the only one to enjoy good food. The others had in one case stale food and in the other an inedible burger. Total disappointment although staff friendly..

If you are looking for a casual place to share a good moment with friends this could be the right place but do not look for fine dining.

We were seated by the cosy gas fire, and ambience was good. Bread with oil and balsamic vinegar was mediocre. Main courses were better, but not all served together. Cheese plate was poor - plastic-y texture, poor flavour. Service was hit and miss, and price was high for what we got.

We went there for a roast. It was nice 7/10. And they still had roasts available at 7pm which was late. A bit light on the meat. Got an extra Yorkshire tho. The staff seemed like they had a big night and were a bit spacey but polite.

You feel are welcome at this restaurant. The food is very very good! A good mixture of quality from the farmer and a respectfull chief make this to great meal.

Nice place but the food wasn’t at its best, the meet wasn’t cooked so well and I told the waitress but seems like she didn’t do anything about it!

Great atmosphere with friendly staff and delicious dinner.

Food and atmosphere are amazing. Service was great too

Visited a few times now, cosy vibes and good food

Absolutely terrible service. The food may be good, but I wouldn't know as I walked out due to the patronising and rude staff. Nowhere is worth that type of treatment. Save your money.

We had a great time at The Rookery. A small independent where we felt welcome and relaxed. Staff were friendly and the food is great - cannot recommend the pork shoulder highly enough. We will be back for sure

Perfection on a plate. One of the best meals I have ever had in London, clearly all fresh ingredients which had been carefully crafted into a delicious dish. Waiting staff were engaging and knowledgeable, they really made sure that we enjoyed ourselves. I can only recommend The Rookery to anyone considering it - try the pork shoulder, you will not be disappointed. We will be back ASAP to see what else they have come up with.

Cibo buono, personale cordiale, bel posto. Le luci basse lo rendono rilassante

Great food and very accommodating staff

Delicious snacks and excellent customer service!

I went here for Sunday lunch with 6 friends. We were seated upstairs which I think meant we were out of sight and out of mind. Our food took over an hour to arrive after ordering, and when it did every dish (mostly roast dinners) except the vegetarian curry was cold. We'd have sent them back except we didn't want to wait another hour. On the upside, the roast potatoes were delicious, and the chips which came with the burger wad good. When the time came to pay the bill a member of staff plonked a card reader down in front of one of us and then walked off and went downstairs, leaving us wondering if we were meant to sort out payment ourselves! Very strange service all round.

Visited with my partner recently for a quiet drink. Except it wasn't that quiet and was quite cramped inside. Staff seemed quite indifferent. The food going by looked nice enough but due to the noise and appalling state of the toilets we will not be going back.

Terrible experience for Sunday lunch. Took over an hour to serve cold roast beef. Vegetarian option was small, overpriced, boring. Best dish looked like the burger.

The Rookery has a nice atmosphere and our starters were nice but we ordered the chicken dish for main and were served it raw, twice!!! This wasn’t slightly undercooked it was completely raw. The chicken dish is also deep fried and so had I not cut into it to check the first time I would have been very ill. Both my partner and myself sent the dish back and the waitress was very apologetic but we were then served with completely raw chicken for a second time!!! Once is a mistake but twice is pretty unforgivable on a relatively simple dish. Again the waitress was apologetic but we decided to leave as didn’t want to risk a third raw meal. We were still asked to pay for our drinks and starters which I was quite surprised about given we’d been given inedible mains twice. It’s a shame as I think it’s a nice place but couldn’t recommend after that experience unless you want to get very sick.

Yo y unos amigos vinieron aquí en una noche de viernes con nuestros socios para una cena de celebración. Nos dieron la mesa en lo que respecta a la derecha por la cocina que parecía bastante acogedor. Por desgracia dos de los asientos en la mesa tenía una vista directa a la cocina, principalmente el área de bin - esto no es algo que uno quiere como una vista especialmente para la noche, especialmente cuando la zona es bastante sucio. bin Había moho oscuro creciente entre el piso y las paredes y con un servicio completo de restos de flujo de comida otros estaban siendo cayó alrededor de la papelera. No visualización agradable para aquellos dos personas. . . Había unas pocas decepciones con que el vino tinto que pedimos no era el mismo año que anuncian en el menú (un problema constante en la industria en la actualidad) y los 3 botellas pedimos llegamos en la mesa fría increíblemente (me imagino que estaban almacenados fuera), así que tuvimos que recurrir a salir de ellos en el radiador cerca para que la temperatura de agua potable. Para dar a la colonia de su debido de la comida era buena y a un precio razonable, el ambiente era vibrante pero no demasiado ruidosos. No hay duda de que las áreas de mejorar aquí, pero tiene el potencial para ser un cálido, acogedor local para quienes viven alrededor de Clapham.

Came here to check out a local pub. It's nicely enough decorated, but it was noisy (both in terms of music and people shouting over the music), and the toilets were poor (one was taped down, one was covered in ephemera, and one had a broken toilet seat).