Westow House, Crystal Palace, SE19

By miles the best venue visited tonight thus far in terms of ambiance and beer choices although clear there is less cask and more keg than previous review 5 years ago and upwards. In fact there appeared to be only 5 hand pumps of which 3 were showing the “coming soon” stickers and so I opted for the Portobello Brewing bitter named Star, an amber nectar at 4.3%, the other one being a Brixton Life on Mars dark mild that was quite tempting. Was pretty busy a bit before 7pm, with numbers bolstered by a small wake on-going in the small room on the left immediately as you walk through the front door! Unlike prior venue this evening, can’t imagine this place would have any difficulty making its way in the world. Suspect the interior has had a lick of paint since the last reviews as it felt quite light and airy inside. Rating based on a genuine belief there would ordinarily be 5 cask options rather than the two on my start if week visit!

A large lump of a pub and unmistakably an Antic pub with randomly styled and situated seating inside with more tradition picnic bench seating outside at the front of the pub. Eight handpumps featuring beers from Volden, Arbour, Adnams, Watneys and Siren, my choice was Siren Yulu and decent in quality. The pub had a good vibe and I liked it here.

The Westow House is situated on the corner of a busy road junction. This could be a decent looking pub but it is painted black which makes it look drab in my opinion. Once inside there is a single L shaped room with the bar facing,the room is bare boarded,the seating is bench type to the front and normal tables and chairs down the left side,the rear left side is down a few steps where there is some more bench seating. There was a decent choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Swannay Scapa Special which went down well,the other beers noted were Volden Sesion/Volden Pale plus a beer from Tring and a couple more which i can read my notes of. There was background music playing which was crap. The beer was nice but i did not really take to this pub. Pub visited 16/4/2016

This pub's looking somewhat tatty outside now, with the ghastly black paintwork needing some attention. The plants (buddleia probably) growing in cracks in the masonry emphasise the uncared for appearance. Inside it's also painted black or indigo, and of course being an Antic pub it's a bit tatty around the edges. There are the usual mismatched tables and chairs, as well as one or two sofas. In the main room at the front there's a table football and a pinball machine (Dr Hook - must be a good 30 year old design, but not as old as from the 50s, as claimed by their website). At the back past the bar counter, down a few steps, is another large room furnished with more normal tables and chairs, and from where you can see the kitchen. I knew this pub back in the early 70s as The Swan, and I don't remember a back room, but there again the pub as a whole is barely recognisable from those days. There is a bit of outside seating at the front. But one thing that has changed for the better from those old days is the beer choice. I strode up to the front of the bar counter, where they had a couple of their own Volden ales on - Vim (£3.30 a pint), and Pale Ale, plus Saltaire Citrus Pale, Truman's Gunboat Smith, and Plain Ales Innocence. After getting my pint of Vim, which thankfully tasted nothing like the old cleaning product, I noticed another three pumps to the side of the counter (shame the barman didn't point them out to me while I was examining the five in front of me), which were clipped for Gipsy Hill Beatnik, Darkstar Hophead, and Orchard Pig Philosopher cider. That is a very good selection indeed. I was told that the follwing day they were having a "meet the brewer" session, showcasing Gipsy Hill Brewery ales. There were clipboard menus on the tables - burger & chips is £10.50, and cod & chips - with tartare sauce obviously - is £11.50. This pub has the typical Antic "shabby chic", with perhaps more shabby than chic, look that I've seen in other Antic pubs I've visited. But the massive plus here is the excellent ale selection, all at reasonable prices. Their own ales are the cheapest, as you would expect, but the most expensive is £3.90, including the 5.2% Gunboat Smith black IPA. This one is definitely worth a visit if you're in Crystal Palace.

This is a typical Antic house, but more Shabby Chic rather than Squalid Chic. It's obviously an original pub so I consulted my old SE London beer guide to discover that it was once the Bass Charrington White Hart, a pub catering for the younger clientele and with a Bar Billiards table. I couldn't see a Bar Billiards table but there was a Pinball Machine and a bar football table. It's bare floorboards and there is the usual random Antic furnishings in the shape of old sofas plus unmatching tables and chairs. There were eight handpumps with a good selection of ales, Rooster's Yankee, Arbor Oyster Stout, Marble Pint, Adnam's Broadside, Hastings Blonde, Thornbridge Jaipur, Sharp's Cornish Coaster and the local Belleville Common Side Pale Ale. I was keen to try what was for me a new local brew so I went for the Belleville Pale (£3.60 but CAMRA discounted to £3.10) but sadly it was cloudy (or very hazy) and had a yeasty flavour, not good for a GBG listed pub. I would return here but the beer quality does mean I have to mark it down a point which cancels out the point it gained for doing 50p a pint CAMRA discount.

Love the style of this pub.Good outside space.Eight real ales on and the two I tried were very good but they were from Tiny Rebel and Darkstar.Wish this was my local.