Poor Matilda - whoever she is

Anyone socialising in Battersea a decade ago will remember Cotea-Cote, an exuberant, cheap-as-chips party venue packed to the rafters every evening with braying Sloanettes.

The demographics of the area have clearly changed as, since the place folded in the late Nineties, several proprietors have had a go at making this site work.

Recent incarnates, as the Pig On The Bridge, the Prodigal's Return and the Blue Mango, all failed to attract crowds - proprietors must have viewed their involvement in this venue like a game of pass the ticking parcel - and now the owners of Woody's club and the Grand Union pub in Westbourne Park, and the Bush Bar & Grill in Shepherd's Bush, have taken control of this seemingly poisoned chalice.

Given the pedigree of the new owners and the venue's problematic past, you'd think Matilda would have opened its doors with a crack team of staff servicing the place. Instead they've gone down the route of employing a team of operational novices, which is of no to advantage to anyone, let alone a hungry and thirsty customer.

Matilda is a two-roomed, ground-floor venue (with party rooms upstairs) which has a bright and cheerful pubby bit at the front, and a coldly decorated dining room at the back.

Adnams ales are on tap, as is Pilsner Urquell and Amstel lager, and there are bottles of Dos Equis Moretti, Sol and Aspell's Cyder. The ale - regularly poured short of the measure - was stale in the pumps on both occasions I visited, suggesting they weren't selling enough.

From a short wine list we ordered a bottle of 2003 Navardia Rioja (£15) and repaired to the dining room where I helped the untrained staff by fetching my own condiments and cutlery. We ordered a large 'Matilda board' of cured meats as a starter (£9.50), and received four small portions of extremely fatty meat.

For mains we had salsicce a fagioli (a dry, rubbery sausage served with really good cannellini beans) and a petto di pollo alla brace - a posh moniker for chicken breast with mixed peppers, which was nicely done, but a dish I could have cooked better at home.

Back in the bar for a post prandial drink and I amused myself watching the staff struggle to cope with the other four punters who had strayed in from the street. They all appeared to be drinking vodka and Red Bull, which speaks volumes for Matilda's new breed of chav clientele.

I expected better from this new proprietor, and I won't be going back again to endure poor drinks, substandard food and lamentable service. Poor Matilda - whoever she is - I fear she's about to join an increasingly longer list of venues that don't work on this site.

Matilda
74-76 Battersea Bridge Road, SW11