The Duke's Head London - Putney Pub Review
The Duke's Head in Putney is an imposing white building perched perfectly overlooking the Thames close to Putney Bridge. This is a pub with strong rowing heritage and ties so you will find lots of references throughout. The ever polite waiting staff showed us through to their elegant and spacious dining room. A window seat got us a pretty view of the Thames and Putney Bridge. So far so good.
Duke's Head in Putney is stunning London pub with river views.
Ambience and Decor
After being helpfully informed by our waitress that we were sitting in a Victorian grade II listed building, we could not help but marvel at the setting, the interior was incredible, very grand, high ceilings, like a restaurant in Austria or Switzerland, so come here for a bit of wow factor and a rather special evening in South West London.
Client and Atmosphere
Brimming with young locals resting up after a hard day in the office and plenty of families and yummy mummies at the weekend. Music is light and insignificant, this is a London pub for relaxing, eating and drinking where you can hear the buzz of chatter and laughter rather than booming base lines. A mixture of diners and drinkers means you can come here for a rather intimate dinner as well as just hanging out on the comfy sofas with your mates. Things do hot up here on Saturday nights for those looking for some dancefloor action in Putney.
Enjoy your dinner and wine with river views.
Food
Fish is certainly a theme here, as you would expect being a river pub, though some of the favourites were off the menu (I love my mussels!). The choice of gastropub grub was pretty comprehensive with a range of pies- Chicken Pot, Fish pie- and a choice of steaks to share or devour alone. Everything sounded so good it was difficult to make a decision but the friendly waiting staff were on hand with recommendations for the indecisive amongst you. Our starters were delicate and tasty, the Beetroot and Goats Cheese Salad deliciously refreshing, and the Calamari crunchy and a nice teaser. The serano ham from a rod on the bar was cut rather thickly but tasty all the same. After such a promising start, our mains were sadly not as impressive. The ribeye to share was nice but not cooked to our preference, which you might accept in your local pub, but not in this grand dining room and stylish surrounds. The vegetable side consisted of overcooked broccoli and cauliflower but the chips we couldn't fault though! The Dukes Head are certainly not shy with their portions so you will not go hungry. The dessert, a Crumble with custard, was simple but had that nice home-cooked feeling and was a satisfying finish.
Plenty of food options at the Duke's Head.
Drink
The wine list was well priced and had a nice balance between new and old world wines. The section for robust, powerful and spicy reds tickled our fancy and we were not disappointed, with a strong Malbac from Argentina giving a nice balance to our dinner. Being a Youngs pub, there is a great range of ales and beers on tap as well as some tasty craft beers including those from the Meantime Brewery in Greenwich, and plenty of bottled beer including the refreshing Modelo beer from Mexico.
All in all, we felt the experience- the service, the atmosphere, the beautiful dining room, exceeded our expectations. While we enjoyed the food, there is definitely room for improvement with the main courses. This is a laid-back, friendly place and I will certainly be coming back as its one of the best London river pubs I have come across to date.
