Restaurant in London, United Kingdom

Jugged Hare, The

Name: Jugged Hare, The
Address: 172 Vauxhall Bridge Rd, London SW1V 1DX, United Kingdom, London, GB
Telephone: +44 20 7828 1543

200Pearl Points

Serious British game cookery near Victoria.

Rate on Pearl Save

Website Call

About Jugged Hare, The

The Jugged Hare is a serious British gastropub on Vauxhall Bridge Road, ranked in Opinionated About Dining's top European casual restaurants three years running. Chef Rafael Liuth keeps the focus on seasonal game cookery and a bar program that holds its own. Easy to book, open daily, a strong call for a relaxed lunch or early dinner near Victoria.

The Verdict

If you've been to The Jugged Hare before and are wondering whether a return visit holds up, the short answer is yes — with some caveats. Under chef Rafael Liuth, the kitchen has sharpened its focus on proper British pub cooking, the pub's Opinionated About Dining recognition has strengthened year-on-year: ranked #390 in Europe for Casual dining in 2024, up from a Recommended listing in 2023, holding a ranked position again in 2025. That's a meaningful upward trajectory for a gastropub in a competitive city. This is a genuinely good place to eat, not just a convenient one. Book it for a weekday lunch or an early dinner if you want the room at its finest.

The Room and the Feel

The visual anchor here is the pub interior itself: Victorian-era bones, dark wood, the kind of unhurried layout that most modern London restaurants have given up on in favour of tight covers and high turnover. The bar runs along the length of the ground floor, it earns its keep. For food-and-drink enthusiasts who care about the drinks side of a meal, this is worth flagging: The Jugged Hare operates its bar program with the same seriousness applied to the kitchen. British cask ales, a considered wine list calibrated for pub food rather than fine dining, a spirits selection that skews toward depth rather than novelty. If your usual complaint about gastropubs is that the bar is an afterthought, this one is an exception. Sit at the bar for a first visit; it gives you a better read on the operation than a table in the back.

What to Eat and Drink

The cuisine type is listed as gastropub, The Jugged Hare takes that category seriously. British game cookery is the kitchen's territory — the name itself is a reference to jugged hare, a traditional slow-cooked British dish, the menu reflects a commitment to seasonal, often nose-to-tail British ingredients. Chef Rafael Liuth has maintained that identity while tightening execution, which is what the OAD ranking trajectory suggests. On the drinks side, this is one of the better pub wine lists in SW1: the selection is compact but purposeful, with options that pair genuinely well with strong, meat-forward cooking rather than generic crowd-pleasers. If you're visiting as a food and drink explorer, bring the appetite and be open to the pub classics, they're the point here, not a fallback option.

Who Should Book and When

Jugged Hare works well for a range of occasions, but it performs leading in two specific situations: a relaxed weekday lunch where you want serious food without a serious dress code or price tag, an early evening dinner before a nearby event at venues like the Tate Britain or the Apollo Victoria. The address on Vauxhall Bridge Road puts it squarely in Pimlico, within easy reach of Victoria station, useful context for timing. Open daily from 11am to 11pm, it offers more flexibility than most comparable London restaurants. Walk-ins are generally possible, booking is rated easy, which makes it a practical fallback if your first-choice dinner plan falls through. That said, booking ahead on weekends is advisable given the OAD recognition pulling in new visitors.

Ratings and Recognition

Opinionated About Dining, Casual in Europe: Ranked #426 (2025)
Opinionated About Dining, Casual in Europe: Ranked #390 (2024)
Opinionated About Dining, Casual in Europe: Recommended (2023)

OAD trajectory is the most useful signal here. Moving from Recommended to a top-400 European casual ranking inside two years means the kitchen is either improving or finally getting the attention it deserved. Either way, it's a meaningful credential for a gastropub, a category where serious recognition is harder to earn than it looks.

Practical Details

Jugged Hare is at 172 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 1DX, close to Victoria station. It is open Monday through Sunday, 11am to 11pm. Booking is easy and walk-ins are generally available, though weekends may fill. No dress code information is confirmed, but gastropub-casual is the safe assumption.

Quick reference: 172 Vauxhall Bridge Rd, SW1V 1DX. Open daily 11am–11pm. Easy to book. Walk-ins possible most days.

How It Compares

Explore More in London

Our full London restaurants guide
Our full London bars guide
Our full London hotels guide
Our full London wineries guide
Our full London experiences guide

More Gastropubs Worth Knowing

Hand and Flowers in Marlow, the benchmark for ambitious British pub cooking outside London
High West Distillery & Saloon in Park City, for comparison on what a drinks-led gastropub concept looks like at its finest
Second Draft in Hong Kong, the gastropub model applied in a very different market

Great British Restaurants Beyond London

Frequently Asked Questions

Is The Jugged Hare good for a special occasion?

It works well for an occasion where the mood is relaxed and the food should be the focus, not the formality.
For a milestone dinner with serious ceremony, consider CORE by Clare Smyth or Restaurant Gordon Ramsay instead. The Jugged Hare is better suited to a birthday lunch or an informal celebration than a wedding anniversary dinner.

What are alternatives to The Jugged Hare in London?

For a comparable British-focused experience with more fine-dining ambition, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is the obvious step up in price and theatre.
For modern British cooking at the highest level, CORE by Clare Smyth is the city's reference point, though the booking difficulty and price point are in a different league.
If you want something equally approachable but outside London, Hand and Flowers in Marlow is the gastropub standard-bearer in the UK and worth the trip.

Can The Jugged Hare accommodate groups?

As a full-size Victorian pub, it has the physical space to handle groups more comfortably than most London restaurants of comparable quality.
No confirmed private dining or group booking policy is available in our data, so contact the venue directly to confirm arrangements for parties of six or more.
The daily 11am–11pm hours give group diners plenty of flexibility on timing, including early evening slots that work well for pre-theatre or post-work gatherings near Victoria.

Is lunch or dinner better at The Jugged Hare?

Lunch is the stronger call, particularly on weekdays. The room is quieter, walk-in availability is higher, the British game-focused menu reads well as a midday meal.
Dinner is worth considering for the bar program: evenings give you more time to work through the drinks list alongside food.
Both services run from the same 11am–11pm daily schedule, so timing flexibility is genuinely good by London standards.

What should I order at The Jugged Hare?

The menu centres on British seasonal cooking with a game and nose-to-tail emphasis, the name is a direct reference to jugged hare, a traditional slow-cooked British dish, so lean into that direction rather than avoiding it.
Chef Rafael Liuth has sharpened the kitchen's focus under his tenure; dishes rooted in British pub tradition are the point, not the consolation option.
On the drinks side, the cask ales and pub wine list are worth exploring rather than defaulting to a standard order. This is one of the better-considered bar programs in the SW1 gastropub category.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is The Jugged Hare good for a special occasion?

Yes, but calibrate expectations: this is a gastropub, not a fine dining room. The Jugged Hare has earned consecutive OAD Casual Europe rankings in 2024 and 2025, which signals consistent kitchen quality rather than special-occasion theatre. It works well for a relaxed celebratory lunch or an informal birthday dinner where the food matters more than the formality. For occasions that call for white-tablecloth service, look elsewhere.

What are alternatives to The Jugged Hare in London?

For a similar gastropub format with serious cooking, The Harwood Arms in Fulham is the direct comparison — it holds a Michelin star and leans into British game in the same way. If you want to stay in the Victoria area and want something more formal, Roux at Parliament Square is nearby. The Jugged Hare's OAD recognition puts it above most neighbourhood pub-restaurants in this part of London, so if game cookery is the draw, it is hard to replace like-for-like.

Can The Jugged Hare accommodate groups?

The Victorian pub layout gives it more flexibility than a restaurant-only space — larger tables and booth-style seating are typical in this format. For groups of six or more, check the venue's official channels ahead of time to confirm availability and any set menu requirements. The address is 172 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 1DX, the pub is open daily from 11am to 11pm, which gives reasonable flexibility on timing.

Is lunch or dinner better at The Jugged Hare?

Lunch is the stronger choice if you want a quieter room and a more relaxed pace. Weekday lunch at a gastropub of this type typically means fewer covers and more attentive service. Dinner brings more atmosphere but also more noise — the pub format means the evening crowd affects the experience noticeably. If the food is the priority, come at lunch; if you want the full pub energy, come for dinner.

Location

172 Vauxhall Bridge Rd, London SW1V 1DX, United Kingdom

London, United Kingdom

Compare Jugged Hare, The

Value Check: Jugged Hare, The and Peers

Venue	Price	Booking Difficulty
Jugged Hare, The		Easy
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay	££££	Unknown
CORE by Clare Smyth	££££	Unknown
The Ledbury	££££	Unknown
Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library	££££	Unknown
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal	££££	Unknown

What to weigh when choosing between Jugged Hare, The and alternatives.

Also Consider

Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Contemporary European, French, ££££
CORE by Clare Smyth, Modern British, ££££
The Ledbury, Modern European, Modern Cuisine, ££££
Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library, Modern French, ££££
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Modern British, Traditional British, ££££

The Jugged Hare sits in a completely different price tier from London's headline restaurant names, that's the most useful framing for a decision. CORE by Clare Smyth, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, The Ledbury, Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library, and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal are all ££££ operations where a meal for two with wine will exceed £200 and often significantly more. The Jugged Hare operates at gastropub pricing, which means you're getting OAD-recognised quality at a fraction of that spend. If your question is value for money, The Jugged Hare wins the comparison by a wide margin, not because the others are poor value, but because the categories are essentially different products.

On booking difficulty, The Jugged Hare is rated easy, with walk-ins generally possible. The ££££ venues above range from difficult (The Ledbury, CORE) to very difficult to book at short notice. If you need a good London meal this week without planning three months ahead, The Jugged Hare is the practical answer in a way that Dinner by Heston or Sketch simply aren't.

The honest comparison for the food-and-drink explorer is this: if you want to eat at the level where Michelin stars and the global 50 Best list are the reference points, the ££££ options above are the right choice and worth the planning effort. If you want seriously considered British cooking, a bar program that goes beyond the minimum, a room with genuine character, without the tasting menu format or the formal dining room, The Jugged Hare is the better fit. For pure British ambition at fine-dining level, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is the natural step up from here.