The Glamorgan, Croydon

The Glamorgan has an L shaped bar area and a pool table in a separate area to the right. During my recent Thursday afternoon visit there were some tables set for dining at the rear and there is a bare board floor throughout. The draught range was fairly limited with Guinness, Becks, Estrella and Aspalls cider on keg alongside Thwaites’ Wainwright, Sharp’s Doom Bar (off) and Bays Brewery’s Up and Under from cask. A disco night was advertised for the Friday and oddly there was a sign saying closed over the Easter weekend. I’m not sure if the whole pub was closed or just the kitchen, but surely the Easter holiday is not a good time to be closing anything. The service was polite, but I couldn’t get very comfortable and wasn’t sad to leave.

The exterior of this pub is still painted a light gastropub grey, coincidentally matching the overcast sky. There was more of the same inside, with the walls painted a combination of taupe and magenta. It’s bare-boarded of course, with some sofas, at least one tall table with accompanying stools, with the rest of the furnishings (at least in the front bar area) being hard wooden chairs and solid tables. The bar back was fitted entirely with wine racks as far as I could see, with the wines and prices listed on little boards below each shelf. The room at the back looked as if it was intended for diners, with everyone in there eating, and those tables still unoccupied being laid with cutlery, etc. There weren’t any menus on the tables in the bar area, but I have to say that the food being delivered to a group on the next table looked good. The room on the right still has the pool table, plus a few more tables and chairs. The decor was typically minimalist with just some large black and white face thing on the back wall. I suppose it must have some artistic merit but I’m afraid it was lost on me. Some loud rock music was being played most of the time I was in here – Saturday night music at Friday lunchtime doesn’t really work for me, but maybe Croydonians like loud music while eating. But the best thing about this pub is definitely the beer, with Doom Bar, Harvey’s Best, and Mordue Winter Tyne on. My pint of the Winter Tyne was excellent, and at the surprisingly reasonable price of £3 per pint. I have to say that these minimalist pubs aren’t usually my cup of tea, and I didn’t find the seating in the main bar to particularly comfortable, but, having said that, good ale at reasonable prices is a massive saving grace.

The pub is now painted a dull shade of "Gastro-Grey" outside and together with the minimalist style pub sign, a plain "G" on a neutral background, I didn't expect too much. True enough food is important here and indeed the back room is pretty much solely for diners with tables set, and walls showing large modern prints of onions, tomatoes, peppers and the like. Despite this the front bar is clearly the place for drinkers, or less formal eating, and to the right of this is another area containing a pool table and TV. In fairness the food I saw served up in the bar looked pretty good, a proper stacked burger came with large chunky chips which were clearly home made and properly fried. The blackboard menu was varied and reasonably priced and contains a couple of South African dishes such as Bunny Chow; the landlord is South African. The interior retains plenty of tradition with wooden original floor boarding and lower wall panelling, even if the ceilings are yellow and walls magenta and green. Seating apart from in the dining area is mainly traditional style at tables in 4s and 2s but there are a pair of sofas. No issues where there is a choice. Three handpumps, all on with a choice of Harveys Sussex Best, Doom Bar and the excellent Mordue Radgie Gadgie which flew down and was good value for a 4.8% beer at £3.00. Don't be fooled by the off putting outside appearance, this is a decent pub well worth a look in. There is an attractive looking rear garden outside beyond the food area too. Note the older inlaid windows with the name, Marshall Taplows which having googled seems to be a distiller rather than a brewery. Unusual.