The Brookmill, Deptford, SE8

Official site of The Brookmill - www.thebrookmill.co.uk

Official site of The Brookmill - www.thebrookmill.co.uk

A short walk from the centre of Deptford, through what felt like a gentrified neighbourhood, this is a smart pub of the sort that can be found throughout South London these days, clearly targeting middle class families through a food-led model, although my evening visit was late enough in the day for all the parents and their kids to have been cleared out, leaving a few noisy groups of student-age drinkers behind. You enter into a good-sized main bar which forms a gently receding wedge-shape with the servery down the left-hand wall. There are faux scruffy floorboards throughout whilst the walls have been painted in pastel shades with the exception of the pleasant dark purple space to the right of the bar. The bar has a rather chunky wooden counter with a mirrored bar back and small, metal-framed canopy to one side. Rather unusually, the bar back boasts a train station departures board, perhaps for the nearby St Johns station, rather than for Deptford station, which is a bit further afield. A single low table with backless benches and one high table with bar stools occupy the small left-hand space next to the bar, whilst the right-hand side of the room has standard tables and chairs along the side wall which transfer over to the left side once you’ve passed the end of the bar, carrying on into a rear space that looks like it might be a dining room. A passage to the rear right leads through to the toilets and a snug that looked a little dark and unwelcoming and had bench seating around the perimeter with a single table in the centre of a pretty cramped space. The majority of customers were out in the garden, which I only caught a brief glimpse of. A poppy soundtrack was playing quietly inside during my visit, but the barman was very cheery and chatted to me about punk rock until a very odd customer interrupted us and ended up joining me at my table for a surreal, but quite entertaining follow-up conversation. On cask, they had a house beer from Bexley called Brookmill and a guest of Anchor Bay IPA, with a third pump unclipped. The IPA was in great shape and my pint slipped down very quickly, so I treated myself to an equally enjoyable half pint before eventually making my way to the next pub. I find pubs like this can be a bit hit and miss, either overrun with kids and diners or else, if caught at the right time such as I managed with this place, offering a decent pub-going experience with comfortable furnishings and well-kept beer. The friendly service and top-notch beer elevated this above your average gentrified South London boozer and I’d say it’s worth making the walk out of Deptford to check this place out.

I share the previous poster's view of what is, and what is not, pub grub but when I was in here last week I didn't bother to look at a menu, but I can report that the sausage rolls (on a block of wood on the bar counter) are in fact "only" £4.50 - it's the scotch eggs that are £5! The real ale position is much more positive with five on - UnBarred Series Grapefruit IPA; the Twickenham pair of Naked Ladies and Sundance; something called Single Hop Knot; and Gipsy Hill Brewery Southpaw. This is the sort of place where I would not expect to pay less than £4 for a pint, but the Southpaw was "only" £3.90. The barman helpfully advised us that it was brewed unfined, and thus was supposed to be cloudy. It tasted pretty good as well. This pub is run by the same people that have the Great North Wood in West Norwood, and like that pub it has been madeover to death. I don't think that there are any original features remaining, although I may be wrong about the green painted wainscotting. Even the bar counter's brand new. The main bar area is the at the sharp end of the wedge; there's another smallish room on the left, and a corridor on the right leads to a single table in a sort of alcove, and another corridor leads out to a surprisingly large garden. There a was water container on the bar counter - no cucumber in this one, just sliced lemon. The seating's simple tables and chairs. This is a spotlessly clean and totally sanitised pub. It's not the sort of traditional pub that I prefer, but I'm glad that it's still here for those who appreciate shiny and gleaming new pubs. The beer was good though.

Not sure if I am allowed to post this, as I haven't been there, but a newspaper review caught my eye. The reviewer visited this pub and stated that "The pub aims to celebrate classic pub grub". then went on to describe what it is. Ham Hock and Gruyere pie, Onion Purée and Roasting Juices and Roast Cornish Cod with Nduja Risotto, Salted Almonds, Aioli and Pecorino. I don't know what classic pub the reviewer is used to, but I thought classic pub grub is, fish & chips, shepherds pie, bangers & mash or even cheddar cheese ploughmans. They also sell sausage rolls for £5. I will have to visit to see what the drinks are like and get back to you all. Please feel free to delete this review if it does not meet with Pubsgalore rules.