Duke's Head — Restaurant in London

I haven’t been here for a couple of years. The food was always good, however our lunch today was abysmal. A sad £9 ‘crab rarebit’ starter was a small slice of bread with dubiously brown sludge smeared on it, sprinkled with a few scraps of crab. Edible at least but disappointing. My main of pork schnitzel was the possibly the second worst meal I’ve ever been served, laughably priced around £18.00. A tiny, dried up item with a fried egg plonked on top of it, sitting in its own little pool of grease & around 10 chips was inedible. It had been fried into submission and the small amount I was actually able to cut off made me wretch as it was just burnt beyond recognition. Unfortunately, It was sent back before I could get a photo of it to have a laugh at later. OK, you’ve got a really crap person in the kitchen today who most certainly has been trained in a burger van but how can anyone, the cook or the waiter actually look at this disgusting food and think it’s OK to serve to someone?. I serve food every day of my working life and would die of embarrassment if I was given this to present to someone. It’s unforgivable. To add insult to injury, we then had 2 glasses of wine presented to us that were undrinkable. You really have to love staff that are made to taste wine that is clearly off and their response is ‘yes, that’s not a fresh as it could be’. If a table sends back both their food and wine, wouldn’t little alarm bells go off somewhere..?, not at this hostility apparently, maybe they’re used to it. They really need to get their act together here, it’s going to be another couple of years before I return, maybe burger van chef may have...

We got married on the 02 September and couldn't recommend The Duke's Head more as a venue! The night before my wedding, when I was dropping off the decorations and the cake..etc. I met with Dorian and he was just fantastic. He was patient and took the time to listen to me and what I needed. He made me feel comfortable and reassured me that everything would be done and ready for the following day, which is priceless when you're at your most stressed. The only thing that The Dukes Head could have done better would have been if Dorian had been our point of contact through out the lead up as his one night outshone any other communication prior.

The night of our wedding was a blast, the entire team were just amazing! Quinton, the manager, was on top of everything and made our evening one to remember. The staff were very attentive and remained friendly and willing to help all evening. They ensured that we always had a drink and were prompt with the food, which was very tasty! The highlight of their amazing service was the communication with myself and my wife. They checked times with us and were flexible if anything changed, such as speeches. The turn around from the sit down to dance floor was very quick, which was then followed by a fantastic evening buffet!

The Coxwain room is so beautifully decorated it really didn't need much more, however with the original decor, everything we added and the extraordinary view out the windows both us and our guests...

Amazing venue in amazing location. Such a shame the food doesn’t live up to this though. It will be my third occasion of dining in the restaurant area, and all three times the food has been a let down. The front of house staff however were excellent as always. First time dining was for a Sunday roast. Some of the fattiest beef I have ever eaten, (some people don’t eat the fat, so even it out somewhat please!). The rest was ok, but not great. The second time was on a Saturday night, myself and my partner had the moules. Nice though they were, the portion size was laughable. If one orders moules in any establishment, (in Britain at least), you expect a mains size bowel, obviously taking into account that the majority of what folks said bowel is shells!! The final time dining we had the 10oz sirloin. Both steaks were madly over cooked, the salad was drenched in dressing basically making it inedible, and the wedges were underdone and just tasted of oil. The food was comped by the waitress, and as stated earlier, she did a cracking job. The restaurant seems to me to be always surprisingly empty for the sheer volume of people who drink there, but after these different attempts at eating there, it’s quite clear to see why. Hopefully something will be done, as it could be the best all round venues in Putney, but at the moment, the lack of semi decent food really...