The Gladstone Arms, Borough, SE1

This is a compact, backstreet boozer that has been given a modest, gentrified makeover that nicely blends traditional and contemporary elements. In many ways, it’s still a basic pub, with bare floorboards and low wood panelled walls with plain upper sections. The servery is immediately to the left upon entering, with a garishly painted wood panel counter and a modern shelf and mirror bar back where most of the keg taps have been relocated. Some nice lamps above the bar help add to a muted lighting set-up which gives the room a relaxed and warm ambiance. The decor is pretty eclectic and includes a large, unusual mural of an Asian temple scene, a fabulous old bulldog pub sign along with a new neon sign, loads of potted plants, some decent modern artwork, Union Jack bunting and much more. Seating comes in the form of tables and chairs arranged around the perimeter and I noticed a few folk going out through a door to the rear, possibly to the roof terrace or upstairs overspill room, neither of which I managed to explore. Music played very quietly in the background but this very quickly got lost under the chatter from a modest sized crowd, and despite the presence of a couple of rugs on the floor to dampen the sound, I get the impression this pub can get very noisy when it’s full. There are just two handpulls on the bar and one of these was out of action, leaving the sole option of Sambrooks Glorious, which I’d fortuitously never tried before. The staff seemed really friendly and the pint of Glorious they served up was perhaps a little short of living up to its name, but in decent nick nonetheless. Twelve craft keg lines ensure that craft beer fans are well catered for, with a couple of them reserved for cider options. This is another pub I’ve walked past many times but never had recourse to venture into, and as with the nearby Kings Arms, it goes to show that you should always take a punt, as this is a great little pub with a cosy interior, interesting beer and good service. Definitely worth checking out if you’re crawling through the local area. Date of visit - 20th May 2023

Tucked away from regular pedestrian routes, you would really have to know it was here to find it. It is what I've only recently discoverd is called a 'Desi Pub', owned by people of Indian origin giving the pub an oriental feel whilst maintaining a traditional pub feel, designed to appeal to and welcome people of all cultures. It is of course housed in a traditional London corner pub, there is a strong food aspect, unsuprisingly the menu is Anglo/Asian, at the same time it still keeps a good boozer quality in the fairly small L shaped room, there is an upstairs lounge and roof terrace that I didn't investigate. There are two handpumps but the cask ale was confined to the one on my visit, ELB Foundation, the beer policy seemed to be firmly in favour of craft keg with 14 taps on the wall with some decent brewers on display, I settled for a Gipsy Hill Bandit. Although it was quiet on my mid week mid afternoon visit I can see this being rather popular. Very nice 7.5/10

Official site of The Gladstone Arms - www.thegladpub.co.uk

Official site of The Gladstone Arms - www.thegladpub.co.uk

The ‘Glad’ as it likes to be known, has gone through a bit of an up and down time since the last review, or to be precise down and now up. Late in 2015 it was in serious danger of being bulldozed and replaced by more faceless blocks of flats, but thankfully a vigorous campaign by the locals, both residents and CAMRA saved it and got it listed as an Asset of Community Value. It then shut for an internal refurb to open in April last year with a more contemporary décor and beer choice which if my experience from last night was anything to go by is certainly attracting the millennial audience. It’s so long since I was last in this one that I cannot really remember what it was like, but the single room downstairs bar seems a lot lighter (perhaps due to a light blue and white paint job) and the bar is still a small affair tucked away on the left as you enter the main Lant Street entrance. And the upstairs lounge appears more posh and comfortable from what I remember also. There is still a focus on music with a small stage section opposite the bar in the downstairs room but now it’s more aligned to the Millennial craft and gin drinking audience instead of aging beer swilling rockers and there was a very good acoustic two piece going through several blues renditions last night. I believe there are regular live music sessions on Thursday Friday and Saturday. On the beer front there are still three real ale pumps on the front of the bar but what is different is the back of the bar which now has a craft tap wall of 10 beer taps and shelves of spirits including several artisan gins. On the craft front the majority seemed to be from London brewers in the shape of Meantime, Hammerton Brewery, Brixton Brewery, Gipsy Hill Brewery and the London Beer Factory. The three ales were Hippo Pale Ale from Animal Brewing (the microbrewery of XT), West Berkshire Breweries Maharaja IPA and Oakham’s Once to Yourself and the Oakham golden ale was so good we stayed on it whilst we were here. The pub was being well utilised on this Thursday evening with a decent crowd outside and inside in both the main bar and upstairs lounge. And a few had even made it up to the very small roof terrace. With a lot of pubs on the way down and disappearing it was really good to find the Glad clearly on the way up.