The Clarence (ex-Balham Arms), Balham  

It appears the makeover a couple years back has taken and held up pretty well. Owned by the people behind The Bishop and The Castle, they dropped the chess theme in favour of canines - Clarence, it seems, is the owner's four-legged friend. It's settled in nicely, and the fact it's still here suggests it has a draw for the locals and, frankly, has a comfortable atmosphere The Devonshire over the road distinctly lacks. It is hard to quibble too with its drink offerings: beers and wines from all over the world will keep all but the most picky of punters from complaining. What strikes us as odd though is the layout of the TV: there only seemed to be one screen (fair enough) but it was tucked away in the alcove next to the table footy at the back, almost as a preserve for those lucky enough to nab the seats around it. What develops when the sport is on, is a queue of punters around that space pushing in and trying to eye the screen. All most odd, and not in keeping with the laid back air this one mostly pull off. Quibbles aside, this one looks to have a solid regular clientele, and for it's range of drinks alone deserves a three pint rating. We were just a bit bemused that a pub named after a dog, comes across as rather too stylish to have a pub dog.

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