Hawkins Forge — Restaurant in London

Booked a table on the 14th November for for 7 people on the 9th December. On the 5th December I requested a slightly later time (17.00hrs as opposed to 16.30hrs) and this was confirmed. On the 8th December I received a booking confirmation with all of the usual details (group size, time, address, etc).

At 10.27hrs on the 9th December I received notification that the reservation had been cancelled. At 12.00hrs I phoned the bar and asked why the reservation had been cancelled. I was advised that they had overbooked and as a consequence they decided to cancel my booking. After a lot of discussion the manager advised me that they could not accommodate my booking. After 20 mins manager phoned me back (which I'm grateful for) and advised that they could find a table and that we would be able to eat there after all.

When we arrived the table was occupied by another group, this was quickly rectified but we weren't told if we had to order at the bar or someone would take our order. After waiting we went up to the bar to order food and drinks. Some of the group managed to order food only for others to be told they would have to wait 60mins for food. At this stage we came to the conclusion that getting a meal here would not be possible so decided to try another restaurant. They kindly refunded the cost of the food we managed to order, this was delivered as we walked out the door and was graciously eaten by the group who occupied the table before we arrived.

I understand it's Christmas and it's the busiest time of the year for bars and restaurants but when you accept my booking we are entering into a legally binding contract - I agree to show up and you agree to give me a table. My recent experience is disappointing and if you are so busy that you are happy to lose a table of 7, good for you. I'm very happy that the Thai restaurant was able to benefit from your incompetence and total lack of...

Came here with my daughter last night. All seemed well initially, service was friendly as was the set up. I've been here before but not for years. Firstly it was pizza night and the pizza oven was broken so no pizzas. However all the signs and pizza menus were out so presumably the management wanted people who had come here for pizza night just to stay and order something else, which we did. The food, which was decent, caused a problem as my chips did not arrive. I was told that the chef had 'forgotten to put them on the plate' so, I said, no problem. This was clearly untrue as they took the best part of 20 minutes to come, by which time I had finished eating so I sent them back. I suggested they might want to consider giving us a pint each as a gesture. After a long wait I was offered a half pint each, which I considered to be derisory. I declined and said I wanted a refund for my meal. Another long wait ensued while the staff disappeared and then hung about by the till. I went up to the till to be told that it was OK to have the refund and that they were 'just about to come up and tell me' Both members of staff I spoke to seemed to take my justifyable complaints about my incomplete meal personally, as if it were a family run pub and I was taking food out of their mouths. In reality it is, I think, an M&B chain pub. I have just received the refund, funny how when I was paying they took the money PDQ! Judging by the other positive comments on here maybe I just caught them on a bad day but, when there are so many competing pubs and restaurants in the area, I don't think you can afford to have staff with this kind of attitude. It's not cheap in this pub but it could at least...

Having attended The Hawkins Forge a fair few times in the past year or so I must say it is one of the best pubs around. The staff are friendly and welcoming, they have an immense selection of booze including some rather delicious cocktails, various entertainment both live and sport related (I've become quite the pro at table football in recent weeks). Darts and Pool also available but my skills with that are purely alcohol dependent.

Anyway moving on, I've never had the food but various peers have told me it is delightful, fresh and not a long wait.

Back onto sports..... The atmosphere for any fixture is cracking! Its not too busy but its the right sort of busy if that makes sense? Loads of screens, even a cheeky projector for the big games and you can book a table to be near one of them. I think the fact its not next door to Clapham Junction station means you don't get too much hoi paloi but its still a good crowd.

Only a short walk from the station I should also add The Forge (as I call it now as I'm basically a regular) provides exactly what you want from a pub, reasonably priced alcohol, top quality service and superb facilities/entertainment.

Also, a very nice beer garden, time it right and you catch the sun which is quite the MVP. Even if you don't its a still top quality

Special thanks go to Craig, Michaela, Simon the gent and last but not least, Emily. Would highly recommend this pub to anyone. I even took my parents there the other week and they said 'yeah, I can see why you come here so...