The Telegraph, Putney Heath

The Quest has been on hold for most of the past two months, so we were pretty eager to get back to it with our latest pick, The Telegraph.

Joining us today were Vera & Roland (of Taiwanese Wedding fame) and Bridgette, Pete, and baby Max.

It looked cute from the outside, with lots of picnic tables and a Cornish farmer's market.




We headed inside to find an equally cute interior, and found ourselves discussing how this pub would certainly be worthy of multiple visits.

The menu looked reasonably good, and I should have taken a picture of it; however, the events ahead led to my forgetting to do so. Fortunately, it is available here.



Dishes Ordered:
We settled in and placed our orders:
Vera: Fish & Chips
Roland: Roast Lamb
Bridgette: Roast Lamb
Pete: Burger
Darren: Burger
Franc: Roast Beef
Water for the table
...until the waitress returned 10 minutes later and advised that the Lamb Roast had run out.

Take Two:
Vera: Fish & Chips
Roland: Roast Pork
Bridgette: Fish & Chips
Pete: Burger
Darren: Burger
Franc: Roast Beef
...ten minutes later, more bad news.
The beef and pork had also run out. We also were still waiting on the water. Bridgette's mention that a round of drinks would be a nice gesture given that the pub was seemingly out of food by two o'clock went unacknowledged.

Take Three:
Vera: Fish & Chips
Roland: Macaroni & Blue Cheese Bake
Bridgette: Fish & Chips
Pete: Burger
Darren: Burger
Franc: Burger

When our food arrived, there wasn't enough cutlery on the table. Obtaining more took significantly more time than it should have. When it arrived, we dug in.

We dug in before pictures had been taken!
Dishes ordered from left to right:
(Macaroni & Blue Cheese Bake, Burger, Fish & Chips)









The food was unremarkable.

The dessert course arrived, after we watched it pass our table twice.
The waitress seemed almost argumentative when we insisted that only one apple pie had been ordered with ice cream.
Desserts from left to right: Cheesecake, Apple Pie With Custard, Sticky Toffee Pudding

Overall, the presentation was careless, but we all agreed that the desserts tasted better than the entrees. The Sticky Toffee Pudding wasn't warm, and ridiculous as it may sound, the ice cream wasn't cold. Darren's ice cream had mostly melted on his plate, and if you take a closer look at the picture of Roland's pie in the center, the custard had been spilled

We wrapped up the dessert course, and after watching our server come over and add more cutlery to the basket on the table without offering us additional drinks or our bill, we asked for ours. She asked us what our tab number was, to which I pointed out the large card on the table displaying our number. The bill came, and at least a generous, undeserved gratutity wasn't included.

Observations: (collective and individual):

• The high chair we requested was never delivered, and the bathroom with baby changing facilities did not have a hand dryer or towels (Bridgette)
• The cheesecake made up for the burger's shortcomings (Pete)
• The space was nice, but the chips were mediocre (Darren)
• Based on his entree, he was disappointed, but based on Vera's it was ok. (Roland)
• The service was poor, the food average. The interior and outdoor area were nice. (Franc)

On to the scores: (awarded on these guidelines)










Our Updated Map of Eats:
*note: Pubs are noted with their scores in parentheses

View The Quest for the Best Sunday Roast in a larger map