The Waterman's Arms
Joe Grossmann, who founded Patty & Bun, reopened this Thames-side pub in Barnes in September 2023 and put Sam Andrews, late of the Camberwell Arms and Ducksoup, on the fire (Hot Dinners, 2023).
Why go
The cooking runs off coals, which is the whole reason to come. The Top 50 Gastropubs guide describes the kitchen as produce-driven, focusing on whatever is best in season, to create a sharing style menu, cooked over coals,
2 and the pub sat 33rd in the 2026 Estrella Damm list announced on 26 January 2026 (Time Out UK, 2026). Andrews cooks whole cuts rather than portions, so the Sunday roasts are spit-roast piri-piri chicken, lamb shoulder or porchetta, all priced for two people. The building has the bar downstairs, the dining room upstairs, and a covered terrace over the river with six two-person tables.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Sunday roast if you are here on a Sunday, taken for the table. Midweek, Hot Dinners rated the curried scallop, where
a light curried sauce complimenting the scallop perfectly,
called the chipsincredibly crunchy,
and finished on baked custard with cherries. - Avoid: arriving Monday. The pub is closed, and Tuesday and Wednesday are dinner service only.
What locals & experts say
- Vittles (2023): Jonathan Nunn's year-end round-up on 29 December 2023 credited it with changing his mind about pub roasts:
A recent Sunday lunch there featured a £80 Hereford beef rump big enough for three, but cooked in a way you just couldn't at home, with the smoke of the grill amplified by a smoked garlic butter.
1 - Hot Dinners (2024): the 6 August 2024 test drive concluded
it's clear that there's great talent in the kitchen,
and rated the terrace,a panoramic view of the Thames,
as the seat worth waiting for.4 - Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs (2026): 33rd in the UK list, announced 26 January 2026.2
- Local rec: Jeff's list carries it twice, once as "Joe Grossmann's Thames-side gastropub" and once off Vittles (his notes below).
Good to know
- Timing: closed Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday from 5.30pm, kitchen 6pm to 9.30pm. Thursday to Saturday noon to 11pm with a lunch and a dinner service. Sunday noon to 6pm, kitchen stops at 4.45pm.
- Booking: all availability is online and capped at eight people. Larger groups email the pub. A share of tables is held back for walk-ins, first come first served.
- The terrace: six two-person tables, and Hot Dinners' advice is worth taking, start inside and move out when one frees up.
- Getting there: 375 Lonsdale Road, on the towpath side in SW13. This is a trip, not a drop-in, unless you are already in Barnes or Hammersmith.
- Hygiene: FSA rating 4, Richmond upon Thames, inspected 12 June 20257.
Craft signals (kitchen: produce-driven, rewritten with the season)
Two signals. The pub states its own kitchen policy plainly, that the menus are produce driven and follow whatever is best in season6, which is a cadence commitment, and the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs judging is what it is measured against. The second is the outside read already cited above, which assesses the cooking rather than the riverside setting. No beer or wine programme is published, so the plate is the axis here.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Vittles best pub lunch 2023" REAL.
Verdict
should-visit — Sam Andrews came from the Camberwell Arms, one of the few London pubs that cooks properly over fire, and he is doing the same thing here for Joe Grossmann on a Thames-side terrace in Barnes. It placed 33rd in the 2026 Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs, and Vittles named the Sunday lunch as the meal that changed its mind about pub roasts. Whole cuts over coals, sharing prices, a river view. It is a long way out for most visitors, which is exactly what a detour rating means.