Our Jack heads down to leafy Kingston and to the unexpectedly tranquil Spring Grove. There he finds a new variety of wine, unexpectedly good beef, and a rather suspicious looking dessert…
Rating
Cuisine
Modern European
Appeals To
Your ‘average’ British pub drinker, if such a person exists. He or she is in their early 30s and lives somewhere like Crawley. It’s pretty middle of the road on the main part, nothing too eccentric here that we could find, and with a selection of food and drinks that should appeal to everybody. No threat of gastropub pretensions, unpronounceable ingredients, esoteric spirits and anything too far out.
People in Kingston wanting to escape the hustle and bustle of the area around the town centre, but not have to go too far in the process. On this quiet street, the Spring Grove feels like an oasis of calm. Or at least it did on the quiet Tuesday we visited.
Families, with or without small children, large or small. Think gardens with children’s playground, LOADS of space on the inside (and the outside) and no discernible cliques consisting of the regulars (…if you’ve been to a traditional pub you probably know what I mean).
In A Word
Vanilla
What’s A ‘Spring Grove’ Anyway…?
Spring Grove – sounds somewhat like a level out of vintage Sonic The Hedgehog but is actually a pub (and formerly renovated hotel) in lovely leafy Kingston.
A short (but somewhat confusing) walk from Kingston Rail Station, The Spring Grove lives in an area quiet enough for me be able to stand in the middle of the road for long enough to take multiple pictures of the front.
It is some shade of gunmetal grey and stands a very noticeable 3 stories high at the end of Bloomfield Rd. It used to be known as the Spring Grove Hotel – and you can see – the building has some character and age.
As for how It feels on the inside? I guess ‘light’ or ‘clean’ would be the main word. The decor is lots of lighter colours on the main part, and the venue is designed for light to come through the various windows and a central skylight. This gives it a spacious feeling and reminds me of something that a Scandinavian person would have designed. It’s kinda the antithesis to those older style of cramped country pubs with the mahogany surfaces. This will probably polarise people, but it works for me because space is my thing.
How about human ambiance? The staff wear checked shirts and are young, probable students with minimal to moderate amounts of tattoos. One wears a Scroobius Pip t-shirt under her checked shirt. It’s a chill, youthful atmosphere here. Maybe it’s all that Kingston Uni shit rubbing off on the surrounding area. That said, the service can get kinda slow – even when it’s practically empty. Too chill?
Dead in the middle sits an open kitchen – with two chefs who may or may not be talking to each other. The male one will later retreat from the kitchen for a pint, whilst continuing to say nothing to anyone. I guess he’s the ‘strong silent’ type. Perhaps he is the Misanthrope Chef.
The bar area by the front is referred to as The Snug and here I discover a small group of regulars knocking back the ale at 430pm on a Monday. This seems a bit much for Monday, but hey….it takes all types, right? We make brief and awkward eye contact as I take pictures of the bar.
After this I end up on an armchair adjacent to a dining table which is simultaneously ultra comfortable and very difficult to eat at. I don’t care. SWAGSWAGSWAGswagswagswag. The somewhat eccentric seating seems to stop in the garden area, I assume for practical reasons.
Speaking of said garden… it smells amazing (I dunno what they’ve got growing here but it’s like a summer evening on an Aegyan Island). It, also, is spacious – ain’t nothing ‘snug’ here.
Music starts out with Guns N Roses and classic rock playlist before eventually reverting to Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’ and then onto alt rock and Britpop. Eventually soul funk. At some point it occurs to me how terrible ‘hit me with your rhythm stick’ is. y u play dis?
Walls are covered in nostalgic curios such as antique silverware and unusual stuff from Hendrick’s gin. As you probably know, Hendricks have a cucumber fetish. There’s also some ‘examples’ off of their current wine list, and cutlery. I assume this is ‘ceremonial’ cutlery, and that you’re not meant to try and take it off of the wall and test it on your food.
There’s a slightly darker area, The Aviary, towards the garden which has alcoves where you shall find hardbound books stacked high, porcelain owl sculptures and a place to seclude yourself. Nobody spends any time there today – seems more like a place for winter.
I try to get wi-fi but they have one of those godawful BT Wi-Fi deals that drives my laptop firewall berserk. And get this: ‘Sadly if you un-tick this box you won’t be able to use our fabulous free Wi-Fi and won’t hear from us.’. No sir, I refuse!
The bit by the front which is not the bar is known as The Tap Room. Here you might find a man with ‘Oasis hair’ eating dinner with his Mum. I don’t see any taps anywhere.
The Drinks
They seem to be keen on Meantime‘s ales, along with, obviously, their own range of Young’s beers. They could probably do better on the cider choices – they only have Aspall (not that there’s anything wrong with Aspall). Two ales – Twickenham Redhead and Twickenham Daisy Cutter
The wine menu is about average in size – nothing over the £30 mark, apart from a few bottles of champagne (at most £60) – some rarer varietals here including a Carignan and a Durif (which since I have never heard of, I end up ordering). There’s also a small selection of cocktails but nothing too hardcore or unusual. Think Mojitos, Cosmos, Aperol Spritzes (etc).
Quiet Monday for a quiet area – asides from me and Adam there are not many humans. One of the staff has crisps for lunch. Edgy. And, later in the evening there is an older couple progressing towards more and more extreme PDAs. All the way until closing. More edgy.
The Food
The food is basically pushing ‘gastropub’ (but perhaps not quite at that level of price, occasional/frequent level of ‘overdoing it’ and the corresponding attention to detail).
The A La Carte menu probably changes daily as it has been freshly printed today. On the main part the food is easily recognisable
Salt Beef Croquettes with Mustard Crème Fraîche
Adam went for this one. Could he taste the salt beef? Who knows – I forgot to ask…
Crispy Monkfish Cheeks with Shaved Fennel and Bloody Mary Mayonnaise
Kinda sad to say that it was a little bland. I couldn’t particularly taste the monkfish in this one, and it was much too bready for my liking. This is probably my fault for not asking how they served it – it’s not the sort of thing I usually order.
They won’t do it blue as we ask for. The closest I can get is a medium rare and with that they have done well. As for the chips, all I can say is MOTHER OF GOD. They all seem to disappear quite abruptly.
Dark Chocolate Brownie with White Chocolate Sauce and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Essentially a brownie done right – in the dense, dark chocolate style. Could do without the sauce, which is much too sweet, in a way that clashes with the lovely denseness of the brownie . It’s also uh….not very aesthetic
The Verdict
All in all it’s not the most memorable or unusual pub I’ve been to, but for consistency, easygoing atmosphere, area (and a beautiful area it is)… plus that amazing garden – I would recommend it! It’s honest, pretty middle of the road and not trying to be anything else. And on this particular day it was very tranquil…not normally a word you’d use for a pub, right?
I’d like to get a different representation by coming back at a busier time (Friday night, perhaps?) or during one of Youngs’ many events and festivals. In the meantime, I’d say that if you’re in the area it’s certainly worth a look in. Just don’t expect any surprises.
The Details
13 Bloomfield Rd, Kingston upon Thames KT1 2SF
020 8549 9507
