Crown & Pepper, Croydon

Official site of Crown & Pepper - www.crownandpepper.co.uk

Official site of Crown & Pepper - www.crownandpepper.co.uk

I popped into the Crown and Pepper yesterday afternoon when there were a handful of other customers. The interior consists of an island bar that distinguishes between the bar area at the front of the pub and the dining area at the rear. The bar is stocked with standard draught products and there were two hand pumps that were drawing Doom Bar and Golden XPA. The food is mainly Chinese and Indian and I noted that all of the lunchtime options were priced under £5. There was some background music during my visit and the plasma screens were turned off. Sky Sports and BT Sport are both advertised. This pub is open until midnight on Friday and Saturday. I though this pub to be a little too food orientated for my liking and I found the barman to be disinterested in serving me. I’ll not be rushing back.

Now back to it's original theme it's not a bad pub and the food smelt wonderful but I sadly didn't have a chance to sample any. It had 2 ales on offer. Doom Bar and Adnams Bitter. I opted for the Doom Bar and it wasn't the best pint I'd had and only just drinkable but on the whole was a good boozer

Previously known as the Crown and Pepper, a Piri Piri themed pub, and still displaying signs outside to this effect, this pub now appears to be called the Aja Lounge; a strange hybrid of pub and Indian restaurant. The building's mock Tudor frontage and fairly traditional decor hint at its past as a typical, large High Street pub and evidence of long vanished partitioning is still evident. There is a fair bit of seating in various forms all around the island bar and a patio out the back has been set up for those who want to smoke one of the Sheesha pipes on offer. My most recent visit was on the last Friday before Christmas, so the place was packed with groups from nearby offices, but the staff seemed to be coping pretty well and were very helpful in finding our group a table without us being made to feel like we should order food. There was no ale on offer, just John Smith's, Guinness or the usual lagers. I did notice a cocktail menu as well. I didn't like this pub much in its previous incarnation and I can't say that the new Indian theme does it for me either. Perhaps if the place was given a good refurb and tidy up, including changing the signage outside, it might appeal more, but as things stand I don't expect to be returning in a hurry.

Lots of comfortable leather look sofas and armchairs but they were all empty at 7pm on a Bank Holiday Sunday. I got the impression that this was not unusual and the place has an air of inevitable failure around it. Not a bad looking pub with some attractive screens and leaded glass, they just need a few more customers.