Jam Circus, Deptford, SE8

Bit too scruffy and basic for my liking.Busy enough.Loud music and acoustics.Friendly barman.3 cask beers from Saltaire ,Arbor and Volden but I went for the reasonably priced keg beer Villages -Rodeo (local brewer).Good beer.

Minimalist Antic London conversion of the eponymous former employment exchange, with very limited furniture and almost no attempt at decor. Features a two-part counter to one side of the large rectangular bar, but the further half of this is not currently in use. A few wooden picnic benches seem to have been thrown together in the back yard. Four of six handpumps operational, with Deuchars IPA, Adnams Lighthouse, Brockley Porter (£3.60, in good form) and Old Rosie cider available. Jerry Lee Lewis and then Elvis LPs on the turntable, and free mince pies offered on Christmas Eve.

This is one of the latest additions to the Antic Stable, obviously in a converted old job centre. Being an Antic conversion every expense has been spared in providing luxurious furnishings. What we have here is cheap upholstered banquettes along the wall, cheap second hand mismatched tables and chairs, and to complete the shabby look, what must be the original job centre's well worn (to put it mildly) lino still on the floor. There is a jobs board on one of the walls (the Antic website refers to this) advertising Antic jobs. The post of CEO seems to have gone, but there seemed to be many others of a much less senior level. They have achieved superbly the depressing feel of a 70s/80s job centre. Of the six handpumps four were in use - one with Old Rosie cider, another with Deuchar's IPA, and the other two with Brockley Porter (£1.80 a half) and a Hop Stuff ale. The Brockley Porter was in good shape, but the ale selection while "OK" is not particularly good by Antic standards. It's nowhere near as characterful (and I accept that injecting pub character into an old job centre is no easy task) and nor is the ale selection in the same league as the nearby Royal Albert. I found this quite a dreary pub, although I did visit on a miserable wet and overcast day, and perhaps it would be better when it was busier.

Newly opened amid some local controversy, this Antic pub chain offering is, as the name suggests, housed within the old job centre building just outside Deptford station. The pub appears to be a work in progress with much of the cavernous single room interior seemingly half decorated and awaiting the fluffy end of a paint brush. The bare floors and exposed ceiling pipes merely accentuate the half finished appearance and I would like to think that in due course everything will be spruced up and a bit easier on the eye. A section of wallspace next to the open bar contained a series of job advertisements and given that there was a stream of people entering the building and studying them I can either assume they are genuine or the place is fooling many an unsuspecting passer by. Beyond the largely unfurnished rear is a small patio area with benches, hardly an aesthetic feature but serving its functional requirements. Ales and Deptford are rarely mentioned in the same sentence other than to describe the lack of them so the 6 hand pumps are a welcome sight albeit one was unused on my visit. The others were populated by Dark Star Hophead, Sunny Republic Beach Blonde, Thornbridge Jaipur IPA, Caledonian Duechars and Old Rosie Cider. Of the 2 I tried, the Beach Blonde had probably been laying in the sun for too long whilst the Hophead fared somewhat better. Prices were reasonable and I imagine that they will offer a food menu once the place has found its feet. Antic seem to like hurrying their pubs to be open for business and these premature opeings do tend to cloud the initial impressions. My initial Job Centre experience is probably not the most reliable and whilst it is a welcome addition to Deptford’s virtually non-existant pub scene, I would expect to see ongoing improvements over the coming months.