St. Christopher's Inn, Borough, SE1

Trying not to be put off by earlier reviews, I ventured in to find a halfway-decent pub, attached to the hostel next door but attracting other customers also. The long narrow interior has indeed been stripped out, with bare boards and sparse furnishings, but only as other pubs around have, and any attempts at theming seem to have been removed. The dining area at the back was almost pleasant. There was also a bouncer but he was only regulating access down the alleyway to the hostel (and ironically could be bypassed by going through the pub!). It was also pleasing to find the handpumps in use, admittedly only serving a rather-tired Doom Bar. Not somewhere I would bother going back to but it wouldn't take much to restore it to being a good pub.

Originally the Grapes, this place has an impressive history going all the way back to the mid-16th century, but I suspect the current structure dates from the 19th, though of course Borough is one of London’s most historic areas. This is now a backpackers’ pub, the main check-in facility – confusingly with another bar – is a couple of doors down. The previous reviews still apply and other sources state too that this place is a bit of a clip joint but thought that I may as well give it a go as it would mean that, finally, I had reviewed every pub in SE1. However, security here is very tight and as I didn’t feel like being frisked – and had a pocketknife keyring – I decided to give it a miss and go to the Market Porter instead; at least I tried, though I doubt I missed much.

A half-arsed Australian theme pub in which someone (probably not Australian) fleeces the unwary. Long and narrow interior with two rooms knocked into one, the bare board and whitewashed interior holding little in the way of character though I imagine there used to be loads. To the side is an adjoining alleyway with some impressive old tiling. Five pumps and all on; Vale Gold, Sharps Doom Bar, Sambrook Wandle, Caledonian Deuchars and Sambrooks Pale, a half of the latter clearing me out of a scarcely credible £2.70 but at least it was in ok shape. A blackboard above the bar advertises a world beer menu but you’d need to take the IMF’s credit card out with you to sample more than one. Was pretty busy however, so certainly attracts an audience of some kind…

Official site of St. Christopher's Inn - www.stchristopherspub.co.uk

Official site of St. Christopher's Inn - www.stchristopherspub.co.uk

I’ve walked past this pub many times over the years, usually on my way to some other pub, but I paid my first visit the other evening, unusually for me in the company of two ladies. One of them said that she really liked the place, as there was some pop music being played and she gave more plus points for the door being open thus presenting a welcoming invitation to go in. It seems to have worked. Personally, I thought it was about average. I thought that both the pop music and the clientele were too loud. What I did appreciate was the fact that they advertised five real ales on handpump, although during my visit there were “only” four on – Bombardier; St Austell Tribute, and the more unusual Rebellion ales of IPA and Dr Bob. The Dr Bob was really very good. The pub itself is deceptively large. Although it is relatively narrow fronted, it goes back a long way, with several interconnected drinking areas. There were a number of tall tables/stools in the front drinking area, but the areas at the back seemed to be furnished predominantly with normal tables and chairs. There are several better (i.e. really good) pubs in the general area, but this one was better than I expected having been dragged in by my companions. A big plus is the decent ale choice.