Porter & Sorter, Croydon

Transformed from a small corner boozer by the addition of a very large extension. The latter is fairly comfortable and traditionally furnished, while the old pub side has some garish club-type tables, as well as a pool table hidden round the corner. There is a patio outside. Beers are from the wider Marston's range, such as Pedigree, Ringwood 49er, Hobgoblin and Brakspears.

Large pub next to East Croydon station. Pub feels a bit "spoonish" minus the real ale selection. 8 real ale taps 3 on.

A late Saturday morning visit to this large Marston's pub which is just a stones throw from East Croydon station. This is yet another pub that I have walked & driven past many times over the years but have never ventured inside. Back in the day I understand it used to be a bit of a rough hole, but now it’s been refurbished and is quite attractive inside as well as having an outside area with a smoking shelter. 11.30am and the pub was pretty empty save for a group of 3 lads, and a few couples, however with the “manager” busy making coffee (with froth on top!) the young bar maid was quite slow and was doing everything one at a time, quite annoying when you have waited over 10 minutes just for a pint! Being a Marston’s pub I knew that the choice would be national ales but I expected the 6 hand pumps to have more than just the 1 beer on which was Ringwood’s Razor Back @ 3.8%, thankfully it was drinkable and worth the wait. This is a large pub with the space used well in my opinion, the largest part of the pub is full of tables and has several booths for diner’s, I guess the pub get’s busy at lunchtimes and weekends with diners. Several large tv’s were showing the BBC news and from looking at the chalkboards all manner of sports. Decent enough for a quick pint but I do wish these places had more than 1 spare staff member, as even at 11.30 on a Saturday pubs do get busy!

I popped into the Porter and Sorter just after 18:00 on Thursday last week to find a busy pub seemingly full of the after work crowd. The interior consists of a U shaped bar area with seating around the exterior walls to the left and a much larger seating area to the right. The right hand side also acts as a dining area and I saw at least one waitress taking orders from the tables. Outside the front of the pub is a small seating area that keeps the smokers off the path. The bar is stocked with standard and premium draught products. The cask options were Landlord, Ringwood Best, Hobgoblin, Pedigree and Forty-Niner. I thought that this pub smelt of old chips and the bar staff seemed to be staring into space awaiting some sort of signal from the mothership. Thankfully their helper spotted me loitering at the bar and I was efficiently served. This is the closest pub to the train station so I will probably return again at some point, but it will not be a planned visit.