Midday Sun, Coulsdon

A big inter-war pub which is now a Hungry Horse but thankfully retains a separate bar with its own entrance for drinkers, featuring pool and darts. Actually the restaurant side was not that unpleasant, although admittedly it was a weekday afternoon and it was pretty quiet. The are also substantial tabled areas outside, some covered. On this occasion at least service was prompt and friendly, although just Greene King ales on of course (Abbot and IPA - condition fair).

Official site of Midday Sun - www.hungryhorse.co.uk

Official site of Midday Sun - www.hungryhorse.co.uk

This is a large eatery from Greene King's glum Hungry Horse brand, catering for family groups and people who don't care how terrible their pub is. The place is vast and laid out through a series of bland, non-descript rooms, most of which are set up for diners, although to be fair, there was one room clearly set aside for drinkers, most of whom looked thoroughly ashamed to be there. You enter into the main bar with an L-shaped servery in the rear right corner and a split level seating area over to the left. The room has a red and cream colour scheme with banquette and tub chair seating on the lower bar level and standard tables and chairs on the upper section, which is formed around a central chimney stack which acts as partitioning from the next room. TV screens at either end of the room were showing muted live football and there were various photos dotted around the walls plus some modern art prints and a large window which depicted the Prague astronomical clock for no apparent reason. Moving further to the left, another similarly furnished dining area appears, stretching quite a distance. Modern wallpaper gives the place a fairly corporate look and fails to distinguish it from any similar Toby Carvery/Harvester type dining barn. Double doors to the right of the bar take you into a public bar area which actually attempts to create something of a pub feel. The room has smart carpet throughout, a pool table and dartboard and was also showing the football, this time with the commentary audible. A second servery runs along the back wall, but appeared to be unmanned when I briefly popped in. As you might expect, there were plenty of kids in attendance, making a good deal of noise and mess. There were two ales on at the bar - Greene King IPA and Morland Old Speckled Hen. A unappealing selection, but I gave the Hen a try and thought it was in pretty good shape and not overpriced at £3.00 for a pint. The bar staff were ponderously slow and much more interested in sorting out food orders than serving drinkers, but they were at least polite and probably have to deal with horrendous customers all day, so I empathise to a degree. I can't say I felt enriched in any way by having visited this place - all it really achieved was to underline how dismal the Hungry Horse chain is. Bonus points for knocking out a drinkable pint of ale, but I'd have to be pretty desperate to decide to come back here again.