The Libertine, Borough, SE1

A warm and welcoming single-room pub with a lived-in, eclectic feel. The interior features bare boards and some carpeted sections around the edges, with the servery halfway along the left wall. The front half is arranged with mismatched tables and chairs, backless benches and a small raised area with a dartboard. Towards the rear are more chairs and a fireplace topped with candles and a mirror. The angular, tongue-and-groove panelled bar counter includes a brass footrail and coat hooks, and the bar back is dominated by a central mirror flanked by blackboards. Decor includes a deer head, a snakeskin, large potted plants, fairy lights, vintage photos, and a large triptych artwork. A big TV screen remained switched off during my visit, while pop music played at a comfortable volume. The pub has a pizza menu and some outdoor benches on the pavement.  Two cask ales were available: Redemption Kazbek (£5.60 a pint) and Harvey’s Sussex Best, with one pump unclipped. I tried the Kazbek, which was fresh and well-kept. The pub was peaceful on my midweek visit and had a chilled, slightly bohemian charm, whilst the service from the barman was relaxed and approachable. This seems like a decent enough pub with a couple of reasonable ale options, well appointed decor and comfy furnishings combining to good effect. They've made a bit of effort to give the pub some character and I think it's the sort of place you could come with a couple of friends for a relaxed evening chatting over a fe well-kept pints.  Date of visit: 24th February 2025

A decent sized corner pub, a tad gloomy inside with its fair share of dark wood and dark green walls. As mentioned below there is a dart board in one corner,oddly flanked on the wall beside it with a Hieronymus Bosch Garden Of Earthly Delights triptych. On the bar three handpumps with a choice of two, Oakham Citra and Brick Peckham Pale,mostly normal keg stuff with a sprinkling of mainstream craft. All in all an ok pub.

Typical London street corner local, high ceilings, tables and chairs around the windows. Theres what seems to be a popular darts area. Nice inside, smart, house plants in placesm real ale

This was founded in 1825 as the Skinner’s Arms and rebuilt for Whitbread in 1896. I hadn’t added this pub to my to-do list, because it doesn’t retain the original pub name; if I hadn’t glanced it down a side street, I’d have missed it and certainly during daytime without lights to guide the way; this only goes to show the perils of pubs adopting stupid, non-pub related names. The scuffed floor is still there from the previous review and the raised darts area, which aren’t the pub’s finest hour. However, the pleasing sea green colour scheme is on show, with dark wood wainscotting to the dado, lighting being Victorian style. Furniture is conventional, with décor in the form of framed prints and large potted palms; it’s really rather nice, especially when paired with decent tunes on the hi-fi; an added bonus is that there were no games machines or visible TVs; to the rear is a comfortable, carpeted snug of sorts. Customers seemed to be young professional types, probably recent incomers to the area. The old-school landlady was friendly and welcoming, with a beer range that puts most of the local pubs to shame: three pumps, one dispensing the rather pedestrian offering of Sussex Best, but then two hitherto unheard-of London brewed ales, Forest Road’s Work IPA and Brockley’s Pale Ale at a very agreeable £2.25 a half and very nice it was too. Due to the non-pub silly name, this was an unexpected find, one of the best in SE1.

Probably was a fairly fancy place many years ago but has been gradually stripped back and left to gently decay. The front area is grubby bare board, bland goo green / grey paint walls and a well-utilised darts area. To the rear is what may have been a separate small lounge which now has a worn carpet, dark green walls and fireplace with a mirror above. A few local characters in situ with some interesting chat and “I’m not a racist but [insert contradictory sentence here]” Brexit chat. A surprise entry in the 2020 GBG, there were three pumps clipped with Doom Bar, Redemption Hopspur and Watneys Spaceman, the latter of which was a thin and watery specimen (NBSS 2) served up by the best bit of the pub, a friendly and engaging barman. Didn't see much to get excited about really and I doubt it’ll be bothering the GBG in 2021 unless the local branch really are desperate to fill their quota…