The Guard House, Woolwich, SE18

Official site of The Guard House - www.theguardhousewoolwich.co.uk

Official site of The Guard House - www.theguardhousewoolwich.co.uk

You walk past the representation of the Goddess Nike to enter via the colonnaded portico of the old guardhouse. The Dining Room faces you, with corridors to the left and right, the left of which obviously leading to the modern addition to this old building that you couldn’t miss on walking up to it. On proceeding down this corridor to what I guessed must be the bar area I was greeted by a most chirpy and enthusiastic chap who was clearly eager to help a bedraggled and wet old bloke. In response to me saying that I just wanted a drink, he asked whether I wanted lager, cider, a stout, or coffee. By this time I had arrived in sight of the bar counter and could spy the three handpumps so at this point felt able to take drink selection into my own hands. The ales on were Doom Bar, Young’s Bitter, and Rebellion Geronimo (£2.10 a half). The Geronimo wasn’t in particularly good shape tasting a bit past its best, but drinkable. I didn’t venture into the Dining Room, or see a menu, but the area in which I sat had all but a couple of the tables laid for diners, as well as an open to view kitchen. The furnishings looked to be cheap and modern, and the room was very light with windows on all sides. A terrace at the front had a fair bit of outside seating, but sadly unused on a very wet Wednesday. On the way out I explored a bit, and found my way into a room to the right of the entrance called The Mess. This seemed to be a dedicated bar area, furnished with armchairs and sofas. It had its own bar counter, but unfortunately no handpumps on it, meaning you would have to go to the other end of the building to where I had sat, which is in effect another dining area, to get your pints of real ale. That’s not a major disadvantage – as long as you know that real ale can be had here. This one’s OK if you like like modern restaurant/bars. On the plus side they were OK with me just having a drink in what was clearly an area meant for diners (but it was fairly empty), and they did have three real ales on. I doubt whether I shall pay a return visit, but it was jolly handy when I was here and it was chucking it down with rain.