Crown & Sceptre, South Croydon

The Crown & Sceptre is a Fuller's pub tucked away in a side street just off South Croydon's main drag. A friendly welcome was offered here and apart from the Skylark, this was one of the busiest pubs we'd been in throughout the day. Quite a few customers were dressed up, suggesting that some kind of function had taken place. The barman was interested in what had brought us his way. But the ale selection was predictably poor with London Pride & ESB supplemented by Hophead as a guest. My ESB was ok. But you can't win them all.

Visited in May 2010 The Crown and Sceptre is a fine traditional pub in a residential side street in South Croydon opposite Whitgift School. The interior is cosy, carpeted and comfortable and gives the pub a slight feel of an upmarket country pub. There's some exposed brickwork and a number of seating booths down the side which afford a degree of privacy. A large conservatory style area at the back is mainly used for dining and the pub is very popular for Sunday lunch, in particular, I gather. There's an outside drinking area at the front on the extended pavement and some seats outside at the back. It's a Fullers pub which on my visit was serving Pride, Chiswick, ESB and Gales Seafarers. The Pride - £ 3.15p - was in good form. I quite like this one and I'm surprised it's not better known and that it doesn't seem to have won any Fullers Pub Awards yet. There are rather more pubs than you might reasonably expect in these quiet residential side streets round here - and this pub clearly seems to be the pick of them as far as I'm concerned

Located down an unassuming South Croydon side-street, this is a quaint and welcoming Fullers pub. The pub has a light front room thanks to large windows looking out to the road, one of which is frosted with a nice etching of the pub's name. There are a few tables and chairs in this area and some nice benches and tables opposite the length of the bar, which form nice, booth-style seating sections. At the rear is another room, set up more for diners, which benefits from a very large skylight. There is a small beer patio at the rear near the car park, and another similar patio out the front. Pride, ESB, Chiswick and Gales Festival (£3.30) were on offer from the six pumps on show. The Festival was in top condition and I would have had more had I not needed to move on. A small range of pump clips behind the bar suggests that guest ales are occasionally put on at the landlord's discretion. The staff here are always very friendly and I can vouch for a very good Sunday roast as well. This is one of the best pubs South Croydon has to offer and is worth investigation if you're in the area.

Crown & Sceptre page at the official Fullers brewery site - www.fullers.co.uk

Crown & Sceptre page at the official Fullers brewery site - www.fullers.co.uk