The Pumphouse Dining Bar

what can i say after having my husbands birthday there earlier this month i only wish i had discovered this wonderful restaurant earlier, everything from the staff to the food was spectacular. i would truly recommend that anyone who wants to enjoy an evening out in a relaxed atmosphere try the pumphouse and judge for yourselves.
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harj & harry
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Sunday, June 01, 2008

My husband and I held our wedding reception at The Pumphouse on 16th February and it was amazing. The service was excellent from the time the staff poured the first glass of champagne til the offer of a lift back down to our flat with our stuff at the end of the night.

The food was fabulous and each guest had the choice of a fish, meat or veggie option for the starter and the main course followed by a choice of three desserts. All of guests commented on the quality of the food and declared that they were 'too stuffed' for dancing!

However, within the hour an amazing buffet had been set up in the smaller of the two mezzanine rooms, so that our party guests woud have something to nibble on. All of the food was execellent value and we were very impressed.

The building, of course, is amazing and with mezzanine completely lit with candles it looked gorgeous.

I would highly recommend this venue to anyone who is getting married and wants something a little more orginal than a floral and chintz hotel bar in which to hold their reception.
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charlie - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, February 17, 2008

How disappointing. I have been to The Pumphouse several times in the past and have always had a great experience with excellent service and good food. Having returned after 2 years, my friends and I were surprised to discover a wedding party on the Saturday night of our booking, the music of which made it almost impossible to hear one another. The staff were unapologetic about the noise and stuck us by the smoky kitchen and the intermittently open back door.

About a third of the menu was unavailable and what was left sounded uninspiring and unfortunately transpired to be quite average. The waiting staff were well meaning but lacking in experience - our waitress tried to clear our starters mid way through on three occasions.

What a shame to see such a wonderful venue go downhill.
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Ralph
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Sunday, February 17, 2008

Love the building very artistic, great service, superb drinks, very good place very pleased customer :)
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Joseph Emanuel
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Sunday, January 13, 2008

On a good day, The Pumphouse kitchen produced superb food. I remember in particular succulent crispy battered haddock with lashings of hot chunky chips, perfectly cooked scallops and superb and generously portioned deserts, including a tiramisu that would convert even the most hardened anti-tiramisu critic. Sadly, all that has changed. The irrascible Johnnie Mountain sold up in exasperation with New River Village and their parking policy earlier this year and returned to his old stomping ground of Mosaica @ The Factory. Their gain is definitely our loss. Boards outside The Pumphouse now advertise pizzas for £5 and the menu has undergone a transmogrification into a lacklustre Italian one. Although a few of the original dishes are still more or less there (e.g. the tiramisu but in a much reduced portion), there's little left of the soul of the old place and certainly not the fantastic haddock and chips. Even the pizzas aren't a patch on the ones on JM's original menu. And with the child-friendly emphasis of the new menu, the place is overflowing with large family groups and kids running around the place. And the wine list is boring. We won't be going back.
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davide37 - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, December 18, 2007

This restaurant has changed hands and now serves bog standard pizza and pasta (despite their website peddling the good seasonal menu of the previous management). Everything was OK - food, service etc but we were expecting something else and something much better.
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clare
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Nice place- the waitress we had was very pleasant and efficient, the starters were good and exotic if a little pricey, but the main meal, we had the haddock and chips (ten pounds plus ten percent service) was greasy and very light on chips and peas. Desserts were good too, so I think what you have to do is eat before you go and avoid the fish.
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Sean
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Monday, July 23, 2007

Have been to the Pumphouse on a couple of occasions and went again on Saturday evening. After being seated downstairs and given the menu and wine list, we didn't see a waiter/ess in our section for the next ten minutes. When one appeared she proceeded to spend ten minutes dealing with one couple and then chatted to the kitchen staff for a while, not obviously regarding any orders taken. We tried with increasing desperation to gain the attention of passing employees, one of whom said he would be back in a minute. We didn't see him again. Finally after half an hour without drink, food or any contact with staff we walked out. No one noticed. Just to prove to ourselves we hadn't turned invisible we went to another restaurant and were served drinks within two minutes of entering.

The comments below are all largely accurate in their own way-it is overpriced for basic gastro pub food but it is a lovely building, local to us, and better than most in the area. We used to go not too often because the menu very rarely changes, especially the vegetarian options, but after this experience it will be a long time before we go again. Time to up your game Pumphouse.

NB marks are tongue in cheek because we didn't get any food, but the experience was free, if irritating. The service however was lucky to get zero
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Colin
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Thursday, May 10, 2007

We have been here a number of times now, both with our kids and with others, and have always come out impressed.

The Pumphouse has the same qualities that Mosaica nearby has: The service is attentive but not over the top and the food is consistently of excellent quality and you almost cannot go wrong here. I do prefer this one because of what they have done with the building. The architecture is wonderful (check out upstairs) and the place has a very open and relaxed feel.

All in all, a very worthy addition to this very much underserved part of London in terms of restaurants. It's reasonably good value for money and together with Aix and Mosaica is a restaurant we shall be coming back to.
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Peter
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Sunday, March 18, 2007

I was reticent about coming here and I am afraid I was right. The menu is a hotpotch of unexciting dishes that I could make better at home. They seem to be aiming at gastro pub quality but are well wide of the mark. Service was amateurish and over familiar. Friendly is good with politeness otherwise I wonder why I pay good money to eat out and am then expected to pay service.

For the people that like the Pumphouse, and there seems to be many, I would seriously recommend seeking out a good foodie pub as you will be blown away by the price and quality.
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Gerry
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Monday, March 05, 2007