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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about The Long Pond
Excellent example of a micro pub, and filling a need in a publess area. Two adjoining rooms with a bright feel, helped by a fair amount of light wood. The small bar at the back fronts a cooled stillage room with an enticing array of barrels, while the long passageway to the toilets is stacked with an equally impressive selection. On this visit it seemed to specialise in Old Dairy beers, but quite a good range on offer. Worth seeking out.
On 5th October 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Long Pond
This micro-pub is larger than it initially appears because there is a second room (decorated as more of a lounge) down a step at the back of the more expected alehouse-style main room. There is a small counter here, but all the real ales are served on gravity from the cool room. I found a choice of six - mostly from Kent breweries - including a splendid Red Spider Rye from Pig & Porter (£3.60).
On 21st September 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Long Pond
I don't think this pub can have changed since previous reviewers' visits. You have the main room at the front with a handful of modern tall tables and tall stools, with another small room at the back on the left with a handful of normal tables and chairs. The room at the back had paintings on the wall by a local artist, with a price list so they're obviously for sale. One of them featured the pub. It was in this room that I spotted the sign on the wall banning customers from speaking on their mobile 'phones, on penalty of a £1 fine which goes to charity.
The beers available were listed on a blackboard behind the small counter. On my visit, what I would guess might be the house beer, Tonbridge Pond Life was on at a very reasonable £3 a pint, plus Mad Cat Session Pale (£3.40), Bexley Bob (£3.60), and Whitstable East India Pale (£3.60).
Being a micropub it's a bit short on luxury - but who cares? However, on a cold January day day it was uncomfortably cold in here. It was so cold I'm sure my wife would have walked out after 30 seconds, but my chums and I are hardier souls, although we weren't tempted to stay for a second pint. On another day I'm sure it would be fine, and the beer selection was just fine, and at very reasonable prices to boot.
On 20th January 2018
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about Long Pond
Five ales, served on gravity from behind the bar, which were Kent Pale, Tonbridge Pond Life, Whitstable Winckle Picker, Wantsum Raving Wolf and Pig and Porter Slow Black Stout. We went for the Kent Pale and the Whitstable Winckle Picker, both of which slipped down very easily. This was the last micro pub of the day, so we stayed on for a good while. The main features here, was the old upright piano along the front wall and the Dorchester room, which was a red and white wallpapered snug leading off the main room. Also there's a long corridor down to the loos, where you can observe the large amount of empty and full casks, stored along the wall. This pub is also handy for the train station back into London, which is only a five minute walk.
On 18th January 2018
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Long Pond
Opened in late 2014, this is another example of the growing micro pub trend that has proven so successful throughout Kent and this part of London. As micro pubs go, this one, located in a former plumbing supplies store, is actually pretty large, with something akin to a two room layout. The front room is bare boarded with painted walls, high tables and chairs throughout and a basic serving counter to the rear. Beers are listed on boards behind the bar and all the ales are racked up in a taproom at the rear which can be viewed through windows in the adjacent corridor leading to the toilets. Some nice bits of art adorn the walls alongside a few beer related items, including pump clips along the ceiling beams, and a cracking old Eltham Park railway sign which references the long since departed station that was once located a few doors down. To the rear left is a small second 'room' with pew and standard seating, red half panelled walls and patterned wallpaper. Windows on the right side open into the bar area, but this is not a service hatch and you will need to make the short walk through to the main room to get your beer. Notices on the walls make it clear that phone calls are not permitted, but using your phone to browse or text is fine.
The blackboards listed a good range of local ales - Caveman Shopper Gold, Kent Black Gold, Gadds No 5, Wantsum Black Prince and a house beer called Pond Life which I believe is a rebadged Tonbridge beer. Four real ciders were also listed on the boards. I tried the Black Prince and have to say I was very disappointed with the quality of my pint. The pub was doing a good trade on a Saturday evening and I'm prepared to put my bad beer down as a misfortunate bit of timing on my part.
I really liked the feel of this pub, which seemed a lot cosier and pub-like when compared to other micro pubs I have visited. The place is a little way from the other public houses in Eltham, but efforts to find it will be well rewarded. Had my pint been better quality, I would have scored this place even higher - it's well worth a visit.
On 2nd August 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about Long Pond
This is another SE London micropub that opened on Friday 12th December 2014. It was formerly a shop called Abbey Plumbing. It is set in a residential area where there are no pubs within a reasonable walking distance so is in a great location. If you were walking by you would probably go straight past it as it just looks like another shop front. Inside it's a small square room With a tiny bar counter at the back right and behind that the cooled cellar. The room has tall tables and chairs and a wooden laminate floor. Just to the left of the bar area is a small snug with low tables and chairs.
This is fairly spacious for a micropub, there is also a long corridor left of the bar counter that leads to the toilets (both Ladies & Gents) where there are a large number of casks. The cellar itself appeared to have space for 14 casks of which six were in use on my visit. Beers were a House Beer by Tonbridge Brewery called Pond Life, Old Dairy Summer, Gold & Silver Top, Musket Muzzleloader and Wold Top Falling Stone. I went for the Old Dairy Gold Top and Silver Top both sold at £3.40 and in very good condition.
This is another excellent micropub.
Opening times are as follows :-
Monday 17:00-22:00
Tuesday 11:30-14:30; 17:00-22:00
Wednesday 11:30-14:30; 17:00-22:00
Thursday 11:30-14:30; 17:00-23:00
Friday 11:30-14:30; 17:00-23:00
Saturday 11:00-15:00; 18:30-23:00
Sunday 12:00-14:30
On 13th July 2015
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]