Albert Tavern, South Norwood, SE25

Started this crawl around remaining venues in SE25 with this 10 min walk from Norwood Junction station on a pleasant spring evening. Not much has changed to the interior it look on a quick glance compared to the below description. There is still a pool table and several TV’s dotted around the pub showing the tennis with commentary on rather than music. Live sport is obviously a big part of this places BAU. So still a GK pub but with only Abbot on offer. Shunned for a pint of Guinness. Plenty of main stream lagers, some Blackthorn ciders and Neck Oil (which I am on a bit of a downer on currently). All in all worse than the worse of the cask selections at the time of previous reviewers of this venue. I’m quite a fan of these sort of venues - a bit off the beaten track and a nice start to an evening with a bit of peace and quiet to enjoy pint (the tennis commentary was nice and low). Personal preference and won’t attract much of a crowd for people looking for more from a pub. Saying that only a 5 based on beer offerings today.

Official site of Albert Tavern - www.alberttavernsouthnorwood.co.uk

Official site of Albert Tavern - www.alberttavernsouthnorwood.co.uk

It sounds as if this pub has improved a bit since Pubsignman's visit a few years ago. Also, of course, Binnie Walsh has sadly passed on. Anyway, it's stil a Greene King pub, but on my midweek visit they had on IPA (of course), plus GK's summer hoppy beer called Amplified, as well as a guest in the shape of Wimbledon Brewery Summer Ale (£1.75 a half). The usual illustrated menus were on all the tables, including the usual pub grub meal deals. This pub has been given the aggressive sort of makeover that so often happens when GK get their hands on a pub. There's gastro grey everywhere, brightly coloured banquettes, mostly modern bare-boarded flooring, and with some booths alongside the windows on the left. The pub dates from the mid 60s, built to replace a pub bombed during WWII. The one thing GK have done is revert the pub to its original name, having had several silly names over the years. There's a bit of outside outside at the front, as well as a very small garden to the side. I have to say that this isn't the sort of pub that rocks my boat, but it's still here and trading, which is good going for any backstreet pub these days. But it was reasonably comfortable inside, and my Wimbledon Summer Ale was in good shape, and a welcome guest for a GK pub.

Formerly a three story, street corner pub, the Albert Tavern now assumes the guise of a single story 1960's estate pub, thanks to the efforts of the German Bombers in WWII who destroyed the original building. The pub often gets a mention from modern day beer enthusiasts thanks to the fact that this is the pub where Binnie Walsh, now of The Harp (Covent Garden), started her career. It's a Greene King house, so beer was limited to IPA and Abbot Ale (£3.00) with one other pump clip turned and a fourth pump not in use. My Abbot was a bit lifeless and I imagine there isn't enough demand to ensure the beer remains in top condition (although the IPA seemed to be flying out of the pump). The interior is essentially one large Z shaped room, although some chunky pillars create a form of partitioning in places. The room is carpeted and it appears that Greene King have done some work in here fairly recently as the place seemed quite fresh and clean. Furniture is fairly standard although there are a few sofas and some high tables/stools here and there. Several TV screens were showing test cricket (with the radio playing over the commentary) to a disinterested handful of punters and I also spotted a Juke box, several slot machines, a pool table and what looked like giant Connect 4. Sport is heavily promoted and I'd imagine that would be a big draw for their customer base. Despite its interesting past, there's not a lot to say for the pub in its present incarnation. I thought the place was pretty decent compared to other estate pubs in and around Croydon, but it seems a bit bland and there was nothing that stood out and made me feel like I'd want to return. You can certainly do a lot worse in these parts, but it's by no means worth travelling out of your way for.