Coombe Lodge, Shirley, Croydon

Without any pre-planning I seem to be handed the unenviable task of following PSM’s meticulous reviews of venues in this part of the Croydon Postal district. Indeed after reading his review of this place after the last couple of venues I had to check my calendar to convince myself it really is July 2024 rather than the year after his reviews as yet again this is one that has changed remarkably little. More visible to me, given the time of year for my visit, was the traditional (ie grassy) beer garden (or more aptly beer meadow) out the back that had more chance of being occupied by anything (other than marine animals) on my visit. The one negative change was the absence now of any cask. Instead just a range of lagers (Moretti, Coors, Stella, Carling, Peroni), cider (Inch’s), Guinness and Sharp’s Atlantic Pale Ale. There were some taps on the back wall inviting me to try one of their craft beers, but there is a list of zilch on enquiring. Atlantic Pale Ale is as crafty as you get here. My biggest thought on arriving, being here for 30 mins and then leaving was how can such a depressing offering occupy an undoubtedly beautiful building? I think I would rather have been a resident of the former care home than be an occupant of the bar here.

Set in a Grade II listed Georgian mansion with sizeable gardens, Coombe Lodge is part of the impressive Coombe Estate and was previously used as a home for the elderly, before being converted to a pub and restaurant in the late 1980’s. It’s currently operated by the Beefeater Pub and Grill chain and has a Premier Inn next door. The pub has a nice location in a rural part of Croydon, bordered by Coombe Wood, Lloyd Park and Addington Hills, which made it a good option for a stop off following an afternoon tramping around the woods in the snow. You enter into a lobby area with the bar to the right and the restaurant to the left. The restaurant has been carpeted throughout and fitted out with some bland furnishings and décor. A few padded banquettes have been arranged to create low backed booth type sections, whilst there is a snug-like room near the entrance with space for just the one table. The tables at the rear of the room look like they give good views over the gardens, but it was dark when we arrived, so I can’t be sure. The bar area is to the right rear and has high stools and tables opposite the servery and a large TV screen showing subtitled news. A large open room opposite looked a lot more comfortable, with a variety of seating options. From here you could access a conservatory which is signposted as ‘The Orangery’. The overwhelming feeling when wandering around this large building is that of amazement at how they have managed to make such a characterful building utterly devoid of any character. For the record, there were two ales on at the bar – a rather uninspiring choice of Fullers London Pride and Marston’s Pedigree (£3.15). The food is a typical pub grub and grill menu and my gammon steak was quite nice, but nothing out of the ordinary. The staff were very friendly and probably ended up being one of the major plus points. The boring ale selection neatly encapsulates everything you need to know about this place. When I first moved to Croydon ten years ago, people were always recommending this place (albeit, it wasn’t a Beefeater back then) but I never got round to paying it a visit. Now that I have, I’m left wondering what all the fuss was about.

Official Coombe Lodge pages at the Beefeater site - www.beefeater.co.uk

Official Coombe Lodge pages at the Beefeater site - www.beefeater.co.uk