The Pig’s Head is Clapham‘s new pro-planet pub, founded by husband and wife duo Scott and Maria Hunter who are also behind three other London pubs, including one of our fave Sunday roast spots The Princess of Shoreditch. In their newest opening, they’ve transformed an old boozer into a chic, cosy spot that’ll fool you into thinking you’ve escaped into the country and not just south of the river.
Featuring a 40-cover dining room and 60-cover bar space, sustainability is the drive behind both food and drink with a fully carbon-neutral menu that champions UK farmers and producers. As well as plenty of veggie and vegan options, when it comes to meat they work with regenerative farmers and butcher whole animals on-site. Drinks-wise, you can expect locally-sourced craft beer, English wines and small-batch spirit producers.
We kicked the evening off with a 58Gin & tonic (with the booze made from wasted apples) alongside a couple of slices of sourdough served with a whipped brown butter. We also added a portion of the vegan scratchings to the mix, which yes were essentially just a boujee salty crisp but they got things going nicely nonetheless. There was also a sharing board that caught our eye, showcasing the likes of beer battered braised beef, wild Kentish venison hash & fava bean hummus, which we’ll be ordering next time when there’s a bigger crowd of us.
Moving onto mains, we opted for the vegan fire roasted Hokkaido squash served with burnt orange, kale & pumpkin seed ricotta, which at first seemed a little safe but the simple flavours really sung. We paired this with the treacle & malt vinegar glazed buttermilk chicken served with an Earl Grey yoghurt, which is sadly only a small plate (and without a doubt needs to become a main affair) but is still an absolute must, alongside the epic beef dripping & chicken salt chips and hispi cabbage with soured rye crumb. A cracking combo might we add.
Throughout the evening we spied a fair few STP’s walking through the restaurant, so we made sure to save room for pud and boy oh boy are we glad we did. A hefty wedge of sticky toffee pudding bathing in a whisky toffee sauce which we would gladly drink – and probably get a little bit tipsy on – by the bucketload, finished with a scoop of clotted cream ice-cream to lighten the plate up. Divine, but it did defeat us. Fret not, these guys compost everything on site, which is then available for locals to use at nearby allotments. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more sustainable ‘eh?
It’s early days for The Pig’s Head, but this one has already got its nose in front. Humble, hearty, imaginative and doing what it can for the planet. We can’t grumble at that.
87 Rectory Grove, London SW4 0DR
thepigshead.com