The Camberwell Arms, Camberwell, SE5

Originally the Stirling Castle, this pub has undergone a multitude of names since it was built in the mid-19th century, the current moniker dating from 2014. With large and promising floral sprays to the exterior, you can see much of the interior courtesy of a video walkthrough on their website, but otherwise it’s a bland place with bare boarded floor, white paint, a token number of trendy prints, bottles to an upper ledge, a bare brick wall, conventional modern furniture, terrible acoustics and as mentioned, two bars with one for food. Customers were local young professionals and unlike me, were seemingly enjoying themselves; all appeared to be eating. There’s still no cask here, with just an array of around six Eurofizz taps, sidelined to the left-hand side of the bar, meaning you don’t immediately see them, the star of the show being Estrella at £3.45 a half, served by a suspicious barmaid – I think table service for drinks is the order of the day here – and as horrible as it was overpriced. This place may make the grade as far as good restaurants go, but quite for the life of me why it makes top pub lists is beyond me. This is not what I’d describe as a pub and the Hermits Cave is a very short walk.

Official site of The Camberwell Arms - thecamberwellarms.co.uk

Official site of The Camberwell Arms - thecamberwellarms.co.uk

No cask at all in here nowadays, food is the main driving force of this open-plan pub, the keg options were of a basic nature and I'm very unlikely to return here.

They had four ales on in here – St Austell Tribute, Harvey’s Best, Brockley Pale Ale, and Brockley Golden. A board to the left of the servery helpfullytells us the ABVs, and that all are £3.90 a pint, or £1.95 a half. I didn’t see a menu as I sat in the bar area at the front, rather than in the room at the back where all the tables were laid for diners. But another board behind the server offered bar snacks such as pork fat and scotch bonnet on toast (!) and fried potatoes (chips?) and aioli (both £4). Although this place has a pub name, it’s actually a modern fitted bar. The bar counter on the left is a modern piece, as is its partner on the right which seems to be a food bar. There’s some exposed brickwork on the right, and the gastro indicators of a bowl of citrus fruit, and a water jug on the bar counter, plus wine bottles on the bar back, are present. In the bar area the only furnishings were a large barrel serving as a tall table with a couple of tall stools, plus a handful of small round metal-framed tables with small round stools. The emphasis seems to be on functionality rather than comfort. This is not the place to come for a quiet pint in comfortable surroundings.

On entering I immediately thought that there were two bar counters facing each other however one is the food servery with open kitchen attached. There is a bar counter with stools but these are purely for persons eating at certain times of the day. That sets the scene really, a very food led pub, the whole of the rear was set up for diners and very busy it was too, upmarket stuff with many specials being designed for sharing, eg Camberwell Arms charcuterie, slow roast salt marsh lamb, roast mallard crown....you get the picture. The bar snacks menu included something called "pork fat and scotch bonnet on toast" so a lard and chilli toastie then? Drinkers are segregated towards the front where a number of Britannia tables are crammed in, unfortunately the entrance lobby doors were wedged open leading to an uncomfortable cold draught. Light coloured wooden boarded floor, some exposed brickwork, otherwise dark almost blood red walls. There are a few chandeliers and a shelf above the bar lobby contains a range of demi-johns. Lots of wines and cocktails listed over the bar but there are also a number of beermats suggesting a changing range, yesterday offered Tribute, Ringwood Razor Back, Brockley Brewery Porter and also their Pale Ale. The place was far too food centred for me to enjoy as a pub even if the Brockley Pale was in good shape, I'd most likely carry on by next time I'm in the area.

Nice food led pub but very warm with the open kitchen at the rear of the bar.Rear room set for dining and was very busy.Stylish pub.Three cask beers on Ringwood bitter ,Sambrookes -junction and my Brockley -pale which was in good condition but bland.Reasonable price.

The Camberwell Arms is a pretty standard looking pub that is set in a terrace of grotty shops. Once inside there is a single oblong shaped room which is bare boarded,the bar is to the front left,there are tall tables and stools and small tables and stools in the front area,there is an open kitchen to the mid right,the rear area opens out with normal tables and chairs for seating. There was a good choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of West Berkshire Good Old Boy which went down well,the other beers were St Austell Tribute,Ringwood Best and Robinsons Trooper. I was quite happy having a drink in this pub. Pub visited 13/9/2014