Simon the Tanner, Bermondsey, SE1

The three handpumps were clipped with Adnam’s Extra Special Ale (I think that’s what it was called), Kelburn Goldihops, and Windsor and Eton Guardsman. I had had an excellent pint of W&E Windsor Knot recently so went for the Guardsman (metaphorically of course) which unfortunately went off as the barmaid started to pull it. But the Goldihops turned out to be a pretty decent pint, and not overly hopped as the name might suggest. And at ££3.20 a pint not overpriced either. The pub itself has clearly been given a thorough makeover. It’s bare-boarded, but with original boards by the look of them, and the walls are painted magenta up to the dado rail level, as is the front of the bar counter. The rest of the walls are painted a mix of dark and light grey. All the furnishings are normal (but solid wood) tables and chairs, apart from the obligatory handful of stools at the bar. The walls would benefit from a bit more in the way of decor, as at the moment they are sparsely populated with a few isolated prints. The bar counter bears that other hallmark of upmarket aspiration – a wicker basket containing the stock of crisp packets – and all the tables had little pots of flowers on them. This is a fairly small pub, with the bar counter occupying the right hand side, with just three or four tables/chairs to the front of it, and a few more to the left and rear of the room. I assume that the space at the rear is intended as the dining area, this based on the fact that the tables there had menus on them, whereas the tables at the front didn’t. There are no fruit machines, or other machines of that ilk, although there was some low key music being played. This is a decent enough little pub, with some important plus points, such as decent ale and no mechanical distractions, even though it has had an upmarket style makeover.