Abbeville Village: where to eat, drink and shop on Abbeville Road
A chef's family restaurant, a proper neighbourhood pub, a wine and cheese bar and a butcher. Abbeville Village, the quiet corner south of the Common, in one evening.
By Clapham London Editorial
Abbeville Road is Clapham's village high street, and the order to do it in is simple: cheese and wine at Rind, dinner at MAAI, and a last one at The Abbeville. Add the Ginger Pig for Sunday's roast and you have the whole of Abbeville Village, as locals call this quiet corner south of the Common. Here is where to eat, drink and shop on the road.
Where to eat
MAAI by Nikita, 33-35 Abbeville Road
The newest serious restaurant on the road. MAAI is chef Nikita Pathakji's family restaurant: the name means mum, and the restaurant describes its cooking as its own take on modern British dining, rooted in the family and the city. Her mother helped with the design and her sister Isha runs the drinks. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, open from 6pm to 10pm on Wednesdays, and from noon to 10pm Thursday to Sunday. Book, especially for Friday and Saturday nights, and ask about New Year's Eve early.
The Abbeville, 67-69 Abbeville Road
The Abbeville is the road's pub, and it does food properly: there is a lunch menu, a Sunday menu, brunch and a kids' menu. It has a terrace, shows sport, and in winter there is an open fire. The pub opens at 11am on weekdays and 10am at weekends, and the kitchen runs from noon on weekdays and 10am at weekends. It is child friendly, will set up high chairs if you ask when you book, and is dog friendly too, with biscuits and water bowls on request.
Sunday is its busiest day. Book for a roast, and mention the kids or the dog when you do.
Coming soon: Adelia, 40 Abbeville Road
After 15 years on Abbeville Road, Adam Byatt's Bistro Union has closed. Its site at number 40 is set to become Adelia, a 60-cover neighbourhood pasta bar and the first restaurant from a new group called Mamie Collective, according to Restaurant Online. The plan is for no service charge, with staff paid a base wage plus card tips. We will update this guide when it opens.
Where to drink
Rind, 27 Abbeville Road
Rind is a wine and cheese bar, sister to the Battersea original. Nikita Pathakji named it among her favourite Clapham spots in Hot Dinners, praising the Battersea branch for its wines and cheese boards. Start the evening here with a glass and a board before dinner up the road.
The Abbeville bar
For a pint, The Abbeville's bar has a wine list, cocktails and beers, and stays open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and until 11pm Monday to Thursday. On Sundays it closes at 10.30pm.
Where to shop
The Ginger Pig, 55 Abbeville Road
The butcher has been on Abbeville Road since 2013. It opens from 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 3pm on Sunday, with changed hours over bank holidays and Christmas. Go early on a Saturday if you want the pick of the counter for the weekend.
For more independents, cross the Common to the Pavement in the Old Town for the bookshop and the second great butcher, or head over to Northcote Road in SW11.
Getting there
Clapham South is the nearest Tube, on the Northern line. From Clapham Common station, walk across the Common to the south side and on into the grid of streets beyond.
The Windmill on Clapham Common South Side is on the way, and makes a handy first or last stop. It opens from 7am on weekdays and 8am at weekends, serves breakfast until 11am, and has a garden for warm days.
An evening on Abbeville Road
- 6pm: a glass of wine and a cheese board at Rind.
- 7.30pm: dinner at MAAI, booked ahead.
- 10pm: a nightcap in The Abbeville, which stays open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
A Sunday on Abbeville Road
- 10am: brunch at The Abbeville.
- Noon: the Ginger Pig before it shuts at 3pm.
- Afternoon: a walk back across the Common, or lunch at MAAI, which serves from noon.
Why we like it
Abbeville Road feels like a village because it is one: a short parade of shops and restaurants surrounded by houses, a pub where the regulars know each other, and a butcher's queue on Saturday morning that doubles as the neighbourhood news. It is quieter than the High Street and the Junction, and that is the point. Come for dinner, stay for a pint, and you will understand why people who live here rarely leave it at the weekend.
