Wondering aimlessly down Richmond Road last Friday afternoon something bright and sparkling dragged my eyes away from the monotonous shop windows.

Sadly, it wasn't a £50,000 diamond encrusted ring discarded on the roadside by some blinged up gangster zooming down the A307 with rap music blaring, but instead the very clean and very new looking pub, The Oak.

Compared to some of the other rough and ready type ones I had seen during my day out in Kingston this one looked very welcoming and very safe but it seems no one else thought so.

When I entered you could count the number of drinkers on two hands and by the time I left - a £3.50 pint of Amstell later - I was leaving the helpful young barmaid with just an old regular staring at his dwindling pint of ale for company.

Why so few people were there is a bit of a mystery.

It was during the day but you can normally guarantee some people would sneak out of work on a Friday afternoon for an early weekend.

It is also a really good pub, recently renovated from the just plain everyday The Oak pub into the now very gastro-sounding The Oak Suburban Bar & Kitchen.

There were some good food choices on the menu - such as a fish finger sandwich and all-English breakfast - and a good selection of fairly priced drinks.

Big TV screens were covering the oh-so-boring Wayne 'I need £200,000 a week to survive' Rooney story and there was some modern down-with-the-kids music on the speakers.

It's new gastro-pub attire shouldn't put lovers of the traditional style off, there are still pool tables and plenty of comfortable new wooden tables and chairs to sit at as well as a decked area out front.

I can imagine this being a good hang out with your mates at weekends but don't be expecting more than a quiet pint during the week.

DECOR: **** A mix of modern and traditional keeping everyone happy.

DRINK: *** Had everything you could want without anything particularly special.

PRICE: *** Middle-of-the-road really and what you expect to pay these days.

ATMOSPHERE: * With only a handful of punters there wasn't one but I think it will get better later in the day.

STAFF: *** The lone barmaid served me quickly but then she didn't have much else to do.

The Oak Suburban Bar & Kitchen, 98 Richmond Road, KT2 5EN.