The Derby, SE11

Official site of The Derby - thederbyse11.co.uk

As the Greyhound, this place dates back over 200 years. There are attractive hanging baskets of flowers outside and inside, the place having undergone a makeover in 2022. Now a notionally Irish pub, the interior is clearly not as whacky as recorded by previous reviewers, nothing like as quirky, no jukebox, perhaps in an attempt to appeal to an older more affluent demographic. The pub goes back a bit, split level, bare boarded to the front, carpeted to the rear with much Gaelic gallimaufry on display alongside wallpaper to the end wall, a jumbo-sized reproduction from the A-Z of the area. The interior is somewhat brewers’ Tudor in nature, now with a white ceiling with exposed black rafters and dark grey wainscoting. A nod to the past exists in the form of some bevelled glass infill to dark wood partitions and a little etched and frosted glass to a door. Furniture is conventional and a choice of boxing or football was to be had on the multiple TVs, sound off so as not to distract from the rather good Dylan tribute act at 9.00pm on my Friday visit, with a moderate attendance of mixed middle-aged customers, quite a few Irish. A dull ale lineup yielded two unused pumps, one with a reversed clip, then just Tribute at £2.60 a half and fine, served by a friendly barman. This isn’t a bad pub but certainly warrants little effort to visit, though it’s a big improvement on the Hanover next door.

Official site of The Derby - thederbyse11.co.uk

Has had a complete overhaul. Much tidier inside, the talbe & chairs all match. Gone is the juke box (did it ever work?) The sort of DJ box in the corner has gone as have the fans on the ceiling. Not sure if it still has wifi. Real ale still being sold. Didn't visit the loo, but the manager told me they have been refurbished, couldn't be any work than before.

Not a pub that really grabs your attention from the street with it's dark chocolate Brown painted and not overly large exterior, upon entering you find a long narrow extended room full of quirky objects of interest much as Rex describes it a few years ago, the old jukebox is still there and working also there is a mannequin clad in sequinned 70's disco garb with an American chopper style kids bike , a collection of multi-coloured plastic toadstools and on it goes, there were three cask beers on, one of which escapes my memory but I had By the Horns Stiff Upper Lip, the other beer was Twickenham Naked Ladies. The buzz was great in here, I loved the place.

I wasn't expecting much before entering, but was pleasantly surprised to see four ales available - Wells Golden Cauldron; Redemption Pale Ale, Sharp's Atlantic; and Otter's Poppy Otter (£3.70 a pint). The latter was a new one on me - obviously seasonal - with 5p from every pint going to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. Obviously in those circumstances it would have been unpatriotic of me not to have a pint of Poppy Otter, and a great pint it was too, served in excellent condition. A lunchtime menu was available from 12.00 to 2.00 when I was in on Thursday lunchtime (called a brunch menu for some reason). Main courses are from £8.95 (for burger & chips) up to £12.95 for the steak. These food and drink prices seem reasonable enough to me. I found this an interesting pub. The ale selection certainly interested me, as did the interior. The pub looks nothing from the outside but inside it's not bad at all. The ceilings are painted red, interspersed with black painted beams; the floor's bare-boarded; and furnishings are a mismatched ensemble of normal tales and chairs, with a bit of banquette seating down at the back. That all sounds a bit odd, but it works here somehow. It's a long thin room, having possibly been extended to the rear. There's all kinds of stuff around the place, such as a large globe in front of a small chesterfield; an ancient musket mounted on a board; an old juke box (seemingly awaiting repair when I was in); and an ancient gramaphone with an HMV style horn. But for me the most unusual thing was the fan arrangements on the ceiling with a couple of banks of paddles swaying back and forth seemingly operated by some sort of electric punka wallah. The oriental theme is countinued somewhat by parasols on display, as well as a Chinese lantern on a shelf. There was some music being played - a mixture of blues and rock - and I saw free wi-fi advertised. I liked this pub quite a lot more than I thought I would before I walked in. The excellent pint of Poppy Otter probably helped.