Sir Christopher Hatton is like an urban Harvesters tucked away under the sides of taller buildings on Leather Lane.

The Venue
Exposed timber meets bare brick work in Sir Christopher Hatton and there are mirrors aplenty on hand to capture it all and throw it back out at you. This is a cellar, but the claustrophobic need not fear as the space is large and without stuffiness. The ceilings are low but the bar is set against a wall at the back allowing space for the tables to have an intimate edge. The pub looks good enough, but where the space might not be stuffy the style does verge on the ultra slick Weatherspoons side of things.

The wallpaper, the brickwork and the many mirrors behind the bar all make it seem like the pub’s trying too hard. The raised platform on the right of the entrance is a pleasant area with large tables to accommodate sizeable groups and a large vintage-style rug sprawled underfoot to add a little rustic pizzazz.

The Atmosphere
The sheen that everything seems to have disguises the sense of solitude in Sir Christopher Hatton. If you strip away that rustic rug, you’ll still see the trapped souls, left behind from The Goose - the previous incarnation - in the trap door below. To an extent, the bright cellar feel works - on the surface at least. You could imagine parents meeting here for a night out, or an office outing that alienates the junior who sits quietly, desperately yearning for friends in the far away bars of Youth Town while the rest wail and shriek over white wine. There are indeed a lot of suits present, so much so you’ll expect the weekend to offer the same sense of high fashion.

The staff are the youngest people in the pub and seem happy to serve with smiles and genuine manners, but surely they’re plotting within, thinking up weird and wonderful ways of smearing the mirrors, burning the rugs and knocking out the bare bricks.

The Food
Sir Christopher Hatton is a part of the Nicholson’s pub chain and carries the same menu as most of their other London pubs. There are traditional pub dishes like lasagne, shepherds pie and burgers and there’s also a speciality. There’s a celebration of great British sausages with flavours ranging from pork and apple through to the downright mad pork and cheese - obviously they all come with a large dollop of mash.

The Drink
Hello! Here’s how to give the punters a choice of lagers. Amstel, Erdinger, Staropramen, Leffe and Peroni are in the interesting group and in the standard group there are homes for Stella, Fosters, Kronenbourg and Becks. There are guest ales all the time and they tend to experiment with interesting produce. Among the permanent ales are London Pride and Timothy Taylor Landlord. The house wines are from Concha y Toro; the red is a Chilean Merlot and the white a Sauvignon Blanc, also from Chile. If you’re not into the beer then the £7.95 bass line price for the wine is pretty exciting.

The Last Word
Sir Christopher Hatton is like a scratch card that is sure to gradually lose its cover and when it does it could just as easily reveal three stars as a dud load of plums.

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