The Junction pub has had a makeover

Perched on St John’s Hill, conveniently close to the station, is The Junction. A 1920s traditional pub that is part of the fabric in Clapham Junction. It’s an iconic watering hole that has served commuters and locals alike for many a year and, after decades of service, it’s had a refurb. The Junction closed for a few weeks in November last year, and then reopened on 1st December with a completely fresh look. During those few weeks The Junction had a real makeover and we had to go down and check the place out.

The first thing we noticed, and that was really nice to see, was that the traditional 1920s feel to the place hadn’t gone. Rather than sweep away the historical elements of the pub they’ve enhanced them; there’s a fresh new navy colour scheme throughout the whole pub, brand new furniture (including sofas that you’ll want to snuggle into for hours and hours), new lighting and we especially loved the quirky artwork on the walls – they’ve got nods to Clapham Junction with framed old maps that have been tweaked to look funkier than, well, old maps. It’s more than just the soft furnishings though – the bar has been reconfigured to be able to allow for a bigger on tap selection of beers, a very important improvement and one we are sure visitors will be making the most of… 

Sadly on the day we visited it was too chilly to sit out in the very aptly named ‘Platform 18’, AKA the beer garden, but on a sunnier day we know this place will be more bustling than Clapham Junction station at 8am on a Monday morning. Instead, we hopped on a stool by the windows (prime people watching) and made the most of their delicious menu. Considering we were there at noon on a Tuesday at the beginning of January we were expecting to be the only people in The Junction. We were wrong. It was so nice to see the place busy with a couple of bag-ladened people waiting for a train with a beer, groups enjoying lunch and a few solo people with the paper and a coffee.

We went for all the pubby classics for our lunch spread. The cheese and bacon burger immediately called our name and it was a real treat – a proper mouthful of all the flavours you crave when you crave a burger. It was unfussy and delicious and the addition of onion rings was a lovely added extra. The fries came in a little bowl and were the hot, skinny kind we find we can’t stop from nibbling at. We found it hard to pick our second plate; there’s a lot on the menu to tempt you. They’ve got a section of small plates (delicious things like king prawns and chorizo, sweet potato with smashed avocado, sticky pickle sausage rolls, crispy squid…), sharers (who isn’t tempted by a whopping plate of nachos), sides, all the fish-&-chip, steak-&-ale-pie pub classics, salads, sandwiches… There are loads on there which will satiate you at any point in the day. 

Being indecisive we decided to go for the ‘Feast with Friends’ sharer which was a plate loaded up with karaage chicken in an extremely moorish Korean BBQ sauce, some delightfully crisp cod goujons that reminded us of mini fish and chips, some battered halloumi and a dinky little side salad for a bit of freshness. This was so good! The name of the dish makes complete sense, it would be fantastic to share with a pal… but maybe even better to eat it solo. Each element was cooked so well and just when we thought we were full to burst, there we were going in for ‘just one more bite’. A beer and a very well seasoned Bloody Mary were fantastic liquid accompaniments for our lunch, and if it hadn’t been a Tuesday afternoon we’d have been tempted to try out more of their extensive drinks menu that includes a real variety.

Aside from visiting The Junction for some great food and drinks, they’ve got their weekly quiz nights back up and running and there’ll be live music on Saturdays and there are loads of brand new TVs dotted around the place that will show all the sports that you could want. And you’ll really want to visit this one – the atmosphere was already buzzy at a midweek lunch time so we can only imagine what it will be like at prime pub time. They’ve done such a great job with this sleek refurbishment and it’s exciting to see Battersea’s pub scene alive and kicking!

Even more exciting is that the team at The Junction are celebrating their reopening by offering you the chance to win one of 2 £100 bar tabs! To be in with a chance of winning head to our Instagram page here. Good luck!

You can head to The Junction and check out the new look yourself at 36 St Johns Hill, Clapham
Junction, London, SW11 1SA.