It was the sociologist Ray Oldenburg who first came up with the notion of your first place (where you live), second place (where you work), and third place (where you socialise). And for many a moon Clapham was strictly a first place. A dormitory suburb for young professionals, with a sprinkling of bars and restaurants to tide you over between schleps into town.
Over the last couple of decades, however, Clapham’s reputation for nightlife has consolidated – where residents can find all the fun on their own doorstep.
Just drive past the common on a sunny weekend and there’s scarcely a towel’s worth of grass to lie on. Clapham High Street is a noisy, boozy, bustling neighbourhood, while things turn more gentile in Abbeville Village and Clapham Old Town, both with a sophisticated food scene. New launches keep coming include Baba Oasis (high street), Havana Coco – cocktail bar and Red Vine, the restaurant next door.
Enter Oliver Marlowe and Hubert Beatson-Hird, with an established reputation for delivering innovative and compelling hospitality. This is their third pub, already owning the much-feted Hunter’s Moon (South Ken), and Ganymede in Belgravia. Under Marlowe’s direction, the Apollo kitchen is headed up by David Halewood formally of The Coach, Clerkenwell (Henry Harris’ French-inspired gastro pub).
The night we visited it was chucking it down, which is a shame as the rear garden has a rep for being much fun for sundowners. Instead, we stopped for a barrel-aged Negroni at the bar. They use Antica Formula vermouth, the choice of champions. Moving into the restaurant area, it has been cleverly resolved, set behind a screen on a window-side platform, elevated from the hubbub of the bar. They also have an area that can be used privately to the rear of the space.
The menu is large and varied while there is a short specials board. Aside from their take on the usual pub classics, many of their dishes include fun surprises and tweaks.
For starters, I chose the Tuna sashimi with whipped avocado, pickled ginger and truffled ponzu dressing. The Tuna was just right and the green of the avocado exactly matched what you would anticipate to be wasabi. It still has a heat due to the addition of Tabasco but without the gasp of horseradish. My guest chose the scallop, crab and basil raviolo with lobster bisque and leek fondue. A delicious and balanced combination in an al dente pasta parcel. We matched these with a bottle of Picpoul de Pinet.
Service was friendly, helpful and not overbearing, and mains arrived with a comfortable break between. Mine was the special: Flat-iron steak with triple cooked chips, tenderstem, truffle mayonnaise and red wine jus. An inch and a quarter thick and served sliced, it was excellent, the mayo working as well with the steak as it did with the fat chips. I accompanied this with a glass of their proposed pairing, a Rioja reserve 2016 from Bodegas LAN, which was spot-on.
Continuing on a fish tip, my guest went with the Honey and soy blackened salmon with bok choy and crispy tiger prawn. The crunch of the bread-crumbed prawn was a great counterpoint to the just-flaking salmon – tricky to get that so right.
Puddings are a house forte, me opting for the Mango Vanilla and lime ‘Solero’ baked Alaska. The sorbet is encased in piped meringue that is lightly cooked and soft. The aroma of grated lime was the first impression and this dish comes highly recommended. We changed ends at half time and I tried the chocolate crèmeux with caramel ice cream, pearl barley brittle and olive oil. The extremely rich chocolate is scattered with fleur de sel for emphasis and the burnt sweetness of the caramel combined with umami from the olive oil made for a very interesting pudding.
It would appear Clapham has, at last, arrived as a destination. As well as drawing the discerning local demographic, its food scene is luring visitors from further afield, and I see the Apollo Arms becoming a worthy participant in this change.
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