No boring beers at The Mall Tavern

All too often pubs like The Mall Tavern in Notting Hill can disappoint. They look attractive on the outside but their ability to easily attract tourists can lead to sloppy practices and an uninspiring beer list.

Andy and Nati Perritt have ensured this is not the case at the pub they’ve been running for around 17 years on a lease from Stonegate. Over a decade ago Andy tells me he just thought there was no way he could continue to sell the likes of Amstel and Corona, which he was pretty much bound to do under the tied lease he then held with Enterprise.

He had seen the craft beer movement taking hold and he wanted to be involved – to swap the bland global brews for tasty beers from smaller craft producers. He took the brave move to go free of tie by paying a serious amount of money to the pub company based on the barrelage he had been buying from them. He simply had to sell more beer than he had done previously in order to make the buy-out deal stack-up.

It worked and today he still continues to operate free-of-tie with 20-plus lines delivering beers from the likes of Deya, Verdant, The Kernel, Omnipollo and Pressure Drop. The beers and other drinks account for 50% of sales and the rest is down to the food that is served in both the bar and an attractive stripped back dining room. It’s an uncomplicated menu with classics present such as Scotch eggs, fish and chips, and cheeseburger and fries.

It’s pleasing to see a menu that doesn’t try to be too clever and on my visit we were happy to concentrate on the snacks and starters to complement our beers. Scotch egg and brisket croquettes had the requisite crunch leading into soft interiors. We then moved onto charcuterie, Welsh rarebit, Delica pumpkin salad (we think it was really squash), and fries.

To finish off they have a very tempting soft serve ice cream machine that is equally popular with adults and youngsters. Especially as there is the option to have the ices topped with an assortment of sauces and sweet treats. On the evening of our visit there was a serious number of youngsters who were very well behaved – maybe calmed by the promise/bribe of a soft serve at the end of their meal.

Among them were many American voices of which some could have been tourists –who make up 30% of visitors to the pub – but I reckon they were more likely locals who seemed to fit in very comfortably with the easy-going vibe created by Andy and Nati.

Andy told me he previously ran other pubs alongside The Mall Tavern but today he prefers to “do one and feel good about it”. He lives above the shop with Nati and they are very much ensconced in all parts of the operation – from fielding food orders, to delivering dishes to tables and hosting the quiz that was running in a packed basement on the Monday night of our visit. Yet another reason to make a return.

Glynn Davis, editor, Beer Insider