I caught William Sitwell’s one-star takedown of The Chalk Freehouse in The Telegraph and couldn’t help but pause. I’d just spent a Friday evening there, and the experience couldn’t have been more different. Some critics seem to hunt for grievances; this review is written in defence of a pub that deserves better.
The Chalk Freehouse, tucked neatly away on Tryon St, is run by the Tom Kerridge Group with Tom De Keyser in the kitchen; it replaces the short-lived Butcher’s Tap & Grill with something more grounded. De Keyser’s background at the Hand & Flowers gives the menu authority, but what matters here is intent: a proper pub for Chelsea, where comfort food is treated with the same seriousness as fine dining. Expectations are high, given its sister pub is the only pub in the UK with two Michelin stars.
Outside, The Chalk Freehouse feels like summer - white-painted walls, neatly kept tables, a romantic Chelsea corner close to King’s Road yet tucked far enough to feel calm. Step inside and the mood dips. The main room is serviceable but unremarkable, a pub interior that doesn’t stretch the imagination. Downstairs slips further, where white tiles edge towards sterility rather than cosiness. The contrast is striking: front-of-house staff greet with bright enthusiasm, but at a table facing the kitchen, the view is one of focus and fatigue. It seems the room is yet to figure out who it wants to be.
That being said, the cooking is what saves The Chalk Freehouse from feeling too ordinary. A starter of Cornish crab with crushed Norfolk Peer potatoes and brown crab aioli was pitch-perfect for a hot summer’s day - light, crisp, refreshingly subtle. Even the bread course stood out, the estate dairy butter among the best I’ve had in London, with green olives good enough to warrant asking for seconds. Mains were outstanding, the kind you want to share back and forth. The pork chop schnitzel came crisp and golden, its richness lifted by sharp pickled cabbage and the soft weight of a fried duck egg. Yet it was the 33-day aged bavette of beef that won out: juicy, well-seasoned, resting on buttery mash and herb butter that made every bite linger. Nothing here reinvents the wheel, but nor does it need to. The flavours are precise, balanced, and quietly indulgent - comfort done properly.
Service at The Chalk Freehouse is polite and professional, though not without its slips. A broken glass, a drink spilled, waiters looking slightly out of their depth - all harder to excuse on a night that wasn’t especially busy. Even the kitchen team showed their disapproval when a glass went crashing down the stairs. Yet there was another side: the staff carried a genuine excitement about the food they were serving, and that enthusiasm was infectious. It made the small mishaps easier to forgive, a reminder that hospitality isn’t just performance but shared enjoyment.
London’s dining scene feels fragile, and pubs sit at the sharpest edge of that risk. Too often they’re forced into cuts and compromises. The Chalk Freehouse resists that, serving food with the depth and care of fine dining. The decor may be safe, the service imperfect, but the cooking leaves its mark. Two months on, I still think about that bavette of beef - proof that this is a pub worth celebrating, not tearing down.
The Chalk Freehouse
27 Tryon Street, London SW3 3LG
020 3958 4444
Lunch: Mon–Sat, 12–2.30pm (Sun until 9pm)
Dinner: Mon–Sat, 5.30–9.30pm
Starters from £9.50, mains £25–31, desserts from £11, plus drinks and service.