The Lucky Pig in Fulham launch

South West London has welcomed the Lucky Pig into its Fulham bosom. The Lucky Pig is marketed as a throwback to the 1920s, and truth be told, Gatsby wouldn’t look out of place here. Plenty of people make the most of the opportunity to dress in Roaring Twenties style. Even the bar staff have a grey tweed and undone bow-tie nonchalance that one would expect to find in a speakeasy.

Unfortunately, speaking easy isn’t on the agenda. It’s a loud bar, with intermittent live music that, despite building an atmosphere, takes away from the relaxed feel of a place where customers can go to enjoy their cocktail and unwind.

The Lucky Pig is decorated to a tee. And everything, from the crystalware lampshades to the newly vintage couches, is on point. Unfortunately, it is let down by the layout. Everyone seems to get stuck between those getting served at the bar, and those standing, enjoying their drinks. What’s on the other side of this is worth the obstacle course, though. A delicate dining area, formal in design but informal in tone, sits behind the crowd.

This would be a great place to eat, especially if the lamb and lentil canopies are anything to go by, made from soft lamb with lightly minted lentils that tear up nicely in the mouth. And the chocolate ganache is so creamy, exploding as it’s bitten into. But it would be difficult to enjoy a full meal here: the music is too loud.

There is a fantastic selection of drinks. The pièce de résistance is the brandy and dark chocolate cocktail with bitters, with an initial hit of brandy that lowers the defences for a punch of dark chocolate. Generous measures of Haig whiskey make this one for the hardened taste buds. This is how chocolate liquors should taste; Lucky Pig’s take on the old fashioned is powerful. It certainly fits in with the compulsively excessive tastes of the Roaring Twenties!

The Lucky Pig really has its heart in the right place. It’s created a space that would be perfect to relax in, and enjoy an immersive selection of cocktails, but unfortunately also an atmosphere in which customers have to shout at each other. If you plan on stopping by here as part of your larger evening out, maybe enjoying a cocktail or two to get in the party mood, it’s great. If you want a more sophisticated sit-down, you might find yourself going elsewhere.

Liam Jones

To book a table at The Lucky Pig, 374 Northend Road, Fulham SW6 1LY, call 0207 385 1300 or visit here.