A Wandsworth landmark, restored Victorian pub The Alma now prides itself on its central bar and restaurant.

The Venue
Less than ten paces from Wandsworth Town station, the green tiled exterior of The Alma leads into a restored Victorian interior, which comprises a large main bar area leading through into a second room, which contains the restaurant.

An all-round, square central bar in the middle of the pub provides a large serving area, with various seats and tables dotted all around. An upstairs function room is available for parties, birthdays, corporate dinners, and even weddings!

The Atmosphere
Well placed sofas and seats mean that the main pub is cosy and inviting, but with enough space for large groups of people. The fact that it’s so close to Wandsworth Town station means it’s convenient for commuters, and the relaxed atmosphere makes The Alma a pleasant place for an after-work drink.

The pub is normally fairly busy, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find a seat after the post-work rush. Thankfully, when it was taken over as a Young’s pub, The Alma didn’t choose to rebrand itself as a garish gastropub - the restaurant area is tastefully and lightly decorated, which works well with the main bar’s Victorian decor and bare-wood floors.

The Food
The Alma’s menu is impressive for a kitchen whose main export seems to be burgers. The three course menu changes daily, and provides unpretentious pub food in decent portions.

Starters include dishes like chicken liver parfait with cranberries and crusty bread, which is delicate and lighter than would be expected. The smoked haddock and mussel chowder isn’t quite as impressive, although the fact that it comes with whole mussels partially makes up for the watery chowder.

For main courses, dishes such as the garlic and thyme marinated chicken with sweet potato mash is fresh and remarkably light, if a little oily. The vegetables that it comes with definitely add to the flavour, and whole thing is well presented on a stack of sweet potato mash. The 28 day hung British sirloin steak with fries, sweet red onion confit and black pepper buttered spinach is just as good as the name suggests, and the shoestring fries and caramelised onion work well with the succulent steak.

To finish, the sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream arrives swimming in a bowl of toffee sauce, but then if you’re going to order sticky toffee pudding you would be disappointed if it didn’t! The cranberry and white chocolate brioche is pleasant, but not as amazing as the name would suggest. Milky, and clearly made of white bread, it was slightly disappointing.

The Drink
The Alma is a Young’s pub, and so carries Young’s Bitter as well as a rotating range of seasonal guest ales. Different lagers on tap include Fosters, Peroni, Staropramen and Leffe, while Guinness and Hoegaarden round off the rest of the beers on tap. The wine list is surprisingly large and, while not exactly cheap, isn’t prohibitively priced. There’s a large selection of wines and Champagnes, and they’re explained clearly on the wine list. Most spirits are available behind the bar, and a few basic cocktails are available.

The Last Word
The Alma is a pleasant and conveniently situated pub with an impressive restaurant.

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