Elm Park Tavern, Brixton, SW2

Dating from 1885 and once the Elm Park Hotel, this former Charrington’s backstreet pub has now been painted a trendy sage green colour. Arriving at 9.10pm of a Thursday and seemingly much changed since the previous reviews, though the interior is still very à la mode, not too overcooked but nevertheless a little sterile, with a pale boarded floor, threequarters height dark grey t ‘n’ g, white painted the remainder, eclectic prints, with a modern but restrained bar back with yellow shiny ceramic tiles, all lit by hanging lamps with fluted glass shades. Furniture is fairly conventional and there’s a larger, more comfortable lounge room to the rear, probably where the live music is held; an item of note is some retained leaded stained glass around the right-hand entrance. Aside from an unused pump, cask offerings amounted to Boltmaker and Tribute, £2.85 a half, good, served by a friendly barman. By trendified pub standards, this isn’t a bad place, the availability of cask making for a more appealing choice than the Effra Hall, but like Rex, I found that this isn’t the most comfortable place for a prolonged stay, but it’s reasonable crawl fodder.

Official site of Elm Park Tavern - elm-park-tavern.co.uk

Official site of Elm Park Tavern - elm-park-tavern.co.uk

I guess that at a push you could regard this as a community local, as it is tucked away down a side street well away from the main road. But my impression was that is now less of a community local than it was when the previous reviewer visited. The furnishings in the main room at the front are a bit Antic-like, with re-cycled hard wooden church chairs, solid wood slightly better quality chairs, and what looked liked chairs with moulded plywood frames. Along the right hand wall is a wooden bench, painted green to match the wall. The tables all look like the sort that would once have graced a house's dining room, and to give the place the upmarket look that they clearly want, they all had a sprig of flowers on them. It all looks a bit cheap, but I bet it wasn't cheap to furnish. The place is bare-boarded of course, and I have to say that a bit more comfort wouldn't go amiss, and a bit of upholstery or carpet would reduce the noise level in a high-ceilinged old Victorian pub like this. There is a separate room at the back, reached through an archway on the left, which is similarly minimalist. I am assured by a former resident that darts used to be played here, but alas no more in this upwardly mobile modern bar. But they do have a quiz night on Monday. The beer selection was quite good though. They had on Doom Bar; Saltaire White Christmas; Panda Frog Project Allelic Drift; London Beer Lab Simcoe & Rye IPA; a Turner's cider plus of course loads of keg taps. I didn't note what I paid for my pint of Allelic Drift, but I did spot a sign advertising Ale Tuesday, when all ales are £3.20 a pint. Shame I was in a day late on the Wednesday. My pint was served in a dimpled mug, with no choice given, although on the plus side I was given a taster of the Allelic Drift. It was served a little too warm, but tasty nonehteless. I also saw that hot food is now sold here, with main courses at around £10 - £12; the beer battered fish & chips is £10.50. I thought the beer range was pretty good, with a few less usually seen ales available. Bit it's not the sort of place where I would be comfortable spending any length of time.

This is a pleasant community local, hidden away down a fairly quiet side street to the south of Brixton, but walkable in around 15 minutes from the tube station. It's a reasonable sized, two room pub that has been quick to pick up on the possibilities afforded by the craft beer craze and gentrification of the local area. The front room houses the main bar and is bare boarded throughout, with purple walls and a nice patterned ceiling. There are lots of sturdy chairs around tables of various sizes and a couple of desks. The large, but ultimately unremarkable, servery runs along the back wall, with various blackboards behind it listing bar snacks and promoting the weekly pub quiz. An old space invaders arcade machine stands on one wall and there is a handmade wooden pinball game hung next to it, as well as stacks of board games, a book swap filling the window sills and a cloth dartboard hung on a door to the rear. I noted two TV screens, one turned off whilst the other showed Judge Judy with music playing over it. The rear room is set up more like a lounge and has a bit more of a traditional feel to it. There is a good range of comfy seating options although the décor is much the same as in the front bar. The pub doesn't offer food, but there was a table next to the front door with a stack of takeaway menus, which you are invited to order from and eat within the pub. I was attracted here by the pub's listing in the 2014 Good Beer Guide, which notes the regular presence of beers from the local Belleville Brewery. However, on this visit, there were none to be seen, although the range was still pretty interesting, with six handpulls dispensing Purity Mad Goose and Ubu, By the Horns Stiff Upper Lip and Lambeth Walk and Brixton Windrush Stout and Electric IPA (6.5%). I ordered a pint of the latter, which came in at an eye watering £4.65 and was too warm for my liking, which was a real disappointment. I would've stayed for another, but the prospect of forking out so much money for an inferior pint put me off, so I left to take my chances elsewhere. I quite liked the feel of this place and thought it could have quite wide appeal, despite not offering food. The prices certainly put me off and I would have to think carefully about making my way out here again, especially given the number of decent ale outlets in and around Brixton nowadays.

This pub has been given a complete makeover, and is no longer the backstreet boozer that it once was. Looking through the window I could see that most of the seating was sofas and low tables, although I did spot a couple of normal tables. I could also see four handpumps on the bar counter; one unclipped and the others bearing Purity UBU, Sambrook’s Wandle and Junction clips. Unfortunately it wasn’t open when I walked past at 2.30 PM on Monday, and there were no opening times on display. But I’ll be happy to return and give a go, as long as I can find out when it opens.