The Alma, Crystal Palace, SE19

Visited a bit before 6pm on a Monday evening when the drinkers were to the fore. I suspect there is still a decent dining option here from the food menu but it really is a great destination for drinkers also. Remarkably the interior description from Alan’s and prior description upwards of 8 years ago still hold remarkably well. My lofty rating is based on the excellent and imaginative beers choices on offer here, nothing could be described as occupying the hand pumps or taps for the sake of it. The leg choices (worth listing in full to illustrate the point) were as follows: London Black from Anspach & Hobday, Fresh from Cloudwater, Santiago from Two Flints, a session cider called Crafty Apple, a lager from the Inkspot Brewery, a lager called Strike from the Drop Project, Hunter from Gipsy Hill, Small Pale Ale from the Kernel, Light Bulb from Verdant, and Shifty from the Drop Project. The four cask offerings were 1965 from Westerham, Sussex Gold from Arundel (my choice and in excellent condition), Choppy a stout from Dtop Project and Seacider. Not a single routine craft or keg offering in site. This place has a nice vibe and seemingly attracts a good demographic of customers from my visit at least when there was a decent number in. It might be a bit too gastro for some people but if the beer choices are any decision making factor it deserves a really high rating from me. It is a modern pub par excellence and I would have no hesitation in trekking here is I was vaguely in the area. Crystal Palace’s finest in my opinion and with the Westow House a 10 min walk away, the craft beer shop in between and some other reasonable venues I would fully encourage an SE19 visit to all.

The Alma is just across the road from the White Hart. Once inside there is a single U shaped room with the bar facing,the room is bare boarded,the seating normal tables and chairs. There was a good choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Cronx Standard Bitter which went down well,the other beers were Adnams Lighthouse,West Berks Good Old Boy and Kent Brewery Pave. The pub was very busy with a more upmarket type of drinkers. I was happy enough having a drink in here while on a pub crawl of the area. Pub visited 16/4/2016

Official site of the Alma, contains menus - www.thealmapub.com

Official site of the Alma, contains menus - www.thealmapub.com

The Alma is a simple, single room gastro pub at the southern tip of Crystal Palace’s central triangle. The U shape layout places the bar at the front, opposite the front door and flanked by seating areas either side. The décor is standard gastro pub stuff, with wooden floors, pastel shaded walls with the occasional bit of exposed brickwork and a good deal of plain mirrors hanging from them. The seating is mostly standard chairs around fairly large tables which you could easily fit a large family group around, although there were a few sofas in the rear right corner under some unusual bookshelf image wallpaper. There are a few curios to distract the eye including posters from the Crystal Palace Expo, a large penny farthing style bicycle wheel and at least one animal skin on the wall. Music played quietly in the background whilst a host of young families sat dining with generally well behaved kids in tow. Four hand pulls offered Windsor and Eton Canberra, Skinners Betty Stogs and Castle Rock Harvest Pale with the last pump bearing a turned clip for Moorhouse Pride of Pendle. The keg range had a few surprises including Hoegaarden, Sagres and Symonds Cider. The Canberra was in good shape and the staff were working hard to deal with all the food and drink orders that were pouring in. This isn’t a great place for the drinker as the emphasis is so clearly on the diner, which is a shame given the decent beer range. If visited at the right time, this might make a good place for a pint or two, but as it is, it’s best visited for food or for a quick pint as part of a crawl.

New ownership for the last six months or so and they have really turned this pub around, four ales on tap, including a very decent Betty Stoggs, worth a visit.