Hippo Inns grows portfolio to 10 sites after £400,000 refurb

03-Jul-2017 - Last updated on 04-Jul-2017 at 14:46 GMT

Portfolio growth: Hippo Inns group expands to 10 sites

Related tags Beer

Pub group Hippo Inns will open its 10th pub next week after spending £400,000 to significantly refurbish the 2,927sq ft site in Twickenham.

The Royal Oak, formerly called Stokes & Moncreiff, is set across two floors, with an open-plan bar and a dining room with 68 covers downstairs. Upstairs, there are two rooms called ‘The Roundhead’, which has its own bar and dining space for 40 covers, and ‘The Cavalier’, which offers private dining for 12 and a ‘press for beer’ button.

The site also has two newly installed 500-litre copper beer tanks in its main bar that will dispense Truman’s first tank-ready beer, RAW, while for curious diners there is a glass kitchen pass so they can see the chefs crafting their meal.

In addition to RAW, an unpasteurised and unfiltered kölsch-style lager, the pub will offer a wide range of craft beers. cask ales and draught lagers alongside cocktails and an accessible and concise wine list, created by master of wine John Clevely.

The gastropub menu will include dishes such as saddleback sausages with mashed potato and jus; ale-battered cod with chips, tartar sauce and peas; and hanger steak with bone marrow, herb crumb and fries; as well as pizza and traditional roasts.

Charlie Higgens will run the pub as general manager alongside executive chef Stan Perry (formerly at Soho House), in collaboration with the Royal Oak’s new head chef Marty West (formerly at Lansdowne Primrose Hill).

The Hippo Inns group is a joint venture run by Rupert Clevely, who founded Geronimo Inns, and pubco Enterprise Inns. Clevely said: “I am incredibly proud of our latest venture. We’ve created an inviting and contemporary pub with a strong food offer and an exciting range of craft beers, including Truman’s first fresh-tank brew. I am confident this is going to be a terrific community pub for the area.”