Eastcote pub aims to mix old and new

Gone is the pool table and in has come a restaurant area and menu inspired by Kenya and India. In the expanded garden, there is decking with a barbecue, as well as an outdoor television ready to show an exciting summer of sport.

Nick Kharbanda told the Gazette he was determined to maintain the 18th-century pub's traditions while adding to what it could offer.

"You can't run a pub now without decent food," he explained. "We've kept the bar menu but there is a restaurant and a take-away menu as well."

On the same page as steaks, pies and burgers, punters will find saag paneer, mushroom masala and Chinese stir-fry.

Mr Kharbanda believes the marriage of old and new is the way forward for pubs in an age where drinking at home has become more popular and coffee shops are challenging to become the new social venue of choice. And where pubs are closing in alarming numbers every week.

"We wanted to do things a bit differently, we are trying to be unique. Everyone seems to want to either turn pubs into a restaurant and take away the sport, or turn it into a gastro pub.

"We wanted to do both."

The new kitchen at The Black Horse is twice the size, giving the chefs the space to whip-up restaurant-quality food.

Mr Kharbanda's grandfather opened Omi's Restaurant in Southall 40 years ago, and the family still runs it.

But the chance to acquire the Black Horse in late 2010 offered the perfect chance for the licensee and his father, Barry, to start their new pub project.