Some people love Marmite, others hate it. The same can be said for the type of watering hole which falls into the category of pub/carvery. I love Marmite, but I’m not sure I love the carvery.

It’s not that I don’t like the food, on the contrary, but I’m something of a stickler for tradition and tend to treat this kind of establishment with caution – I’ve just seen too many proper pubs ripped apart to make way for the carvery.

Give me a cosy pub, serving bar meals, any day. Anyhow, it was with an open mind that I decided to pay a visit to The Belmont.

My first impressions were mixed. There’s plenty of parking space, which is bound to appeal to those who drive past the pub on the busy Brighton Road, and there were lots of people sat outside taking advantage of the good weather, but my heart sank a little when I saw the pub sign.

Instead of an endearing picture of the local surroundings, by which to woo potential customers, the Belmont has decided to follow the modern trend of not using an image at all, instead just settling for the pub name as its sign, with a knife and fork to go alongside it.

I can’t help but feel that it’s missed a trick – where’s a lovely, striking image of Belmont itself?

I noticed straight away that the Belmont has a lovely big beer garden – you’d be hard pushed to find a better one in Sutton, but just as I was enjoying a nice pint of Adnams Broadside in the summer sunshine, disaster struck.

A punter went to take a seat near to me but instead all he took was a tumble as his fragile wooden chair gave way under him, much to the horror of his fellow drinkers.

Thankfully, the man was ok, which is more than can be said for the remains of the chair.

The interior of the Belmont is split into three – the main dining area, the bar and the conservatory – and on my visit jazz was playing out over the speakers, which wasn’t too loud.

In terms of food, it’s not bad value at all with a varied menu offering pub favourites such as lasagne, while the more adventurous will no doubt be left cooing over the prospect of tucking into pan fried wood pigeon.

The carvery itself, for which the pub is well known, is excellent value at £9.

The appeal of the Belmont has to be the food and the beer garden, so long as the seating issue is resolved. As for the pub/carvery, well, I still haven’t quite got a taste for it yet.

How The Belmont rates (out of five):

DECOR: XXX Neat and tidy. They spent a lot of money on this place a couple of years ago.

DRINK: XX Oh for a guest ale. It’d be nice to have variety.

PRICE: XXX £3 for Broadside is about par for the course.

ATMOSPHERE: XX Enjoyed the jazz and relaxing in the beer garden... then that poor guy’s chair collapsed.

STAFF: XXX Happy to help and engage in a bit of banter.