Trude, South Norwood, SE25

Formerly the Alliance Arms, this place was closed to the public for a number of years before reopening as a Caribbean cocktail bar and members club, with a good location next to Sputh Norwood Clock Tower and station. The place has been fitted out as a modern bar, with a polished stone tile floor and walls, plus some faux stone wall cladding. Leaded and stained glass windows can be seen in the doors and windows down one side of room - a legacy of the former pub, but there's not much else of interest to catch the eye. The servery is directly opposite the entrance and has a tiled counter front with a polished stone top and simple bar back, all under a row of pleasant light fixtures. Seating can be found down both sides of what is quite a narrow room, entirely in the form of high tables and stools, with each stool having an unusual swivel seat feature that operates independently of the legs and back. Large potted plants add some colour to the room and I spotted a DJ booth to the rear and, more worryingly, an airport-style metal detector near the entrance, presumably for rowdier nights, or at least to comply with whatever stupid restrictions Croydon Council impose on late night venues these days. The high point of my visit had to be the selection of great afro jazz/funk tunes that were playing on a very quiet Sunday evening. This place always seems empty whenever I pass by, but I can only assume it must get busier later in the evenings or at weekends. There is of course, no draught, so I ended up taking a Brewdog IPA 330ml bottle for a staggering £7.75! Menus detailled an extensive cocktail menu, but I'm not sure how much they cost, as I couldn't read it through my tears¹. For what it's worth, the barmaid was very friendly, but then I'd be all polite and smiling if I was making that kind of mark up. I can't say this venue is my cup of tea, but then it's not aimed at customers like myself, so that's fair enough. It seems like a decent, if rather pricey, cocktail bar and if that's what you're looking for, then it could well be a safe bet, but there's nothing here for the beer drinker, so I can't see me returning. Date of visit - 14th April 2024

Facebook page of Trude - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Trude - www.facebook.com

Still here but now called Trude. Was worth the 10 mins to verify it was open and what it has to offer on the short walk back to Norwood Junction station. Was the only punter in here at 9pm and no sign of anyone joining or following me any time soon! Pretty depressing on the quaffs front. No cask and obviously compared to Steve’s visit of yesteryear. Bland keg and bottle options not even worth listing at this point other than the BrewDog Punk IPA. Ended up being a tick box exercise in SE25, but I knew that before I gravitated back to NJ station! In some respects I wasn’t disappointed!

Official site of Trude - www.truderestaurantandbar.com

Official site of Trude - www.truderestaurantandbar.com