Alessandro's, Crystal Palace, SE19

All change since PSM review of a bit over 2 years ago. Now ostensibly an Italian restaurant with a bar area so welcome drinkers only. Only Peroni and Birra Moretti on tap so that must be minimum qualifying criteria for retained inclusion here. Saying that venue was very welcoming of my custom, high stools at the bar with some chat with other punters here for a glass of vino (no evidence they were ticking off SE19 venues on PG but ultimately who knows - but would bet more than the sum I won on the Grand National good thing on Saturday this is the only review of this venue this evening). My rating no where near reflects my view of this place through a different lens - can’t be more than 4 on here but would definitely return here for a different purpose if in the area and looking for an Italian lunch or dinner - the customer service and attention to detail was impeccable.

Facebook page of Alessandro's - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Alessandro's - www.facebook.com

This is a centrally located cocktail bar and restaurant on the Crystal Palace triangle. The bar has a shop-style narrow but deep interior with a tiled floor and contemporary design including a rather bright colour scheme, some bright, full height murals and one wall covered in flowers. Comfy armchair seating to the front and through the centre, is supplemented with some high padded banquettes down the right-hand wall with bar stools in support, and a regular banquette along the rear left wall, under the aforementioned flower display. There’s also a small snug-like space in the front right corner, which was ideal for smaller groups to book for a bit of extra privacy. The bar runs down most of the left-hand wall and has an unusual back-lit counter front with a marble-effect pattern plus a smart dark painted bar back. A cartoon-style mural to the rear right had a TV screen above it, although this was not in use, with pop tunes playing in the background instead. A very large group were occupying all of the tables through the centre of the room when we arrived and made plenty of noise celebrating the birthday of one of them. Cocktails are the main reason to come here, and each table had its own cocktail menu, with most clocking in at around a tenner each, although there were a few deals for cheaper drinks if you order in large quantities, whilst a happy hour was being promoted Monday to Friday. There’s no ale obviously, but they do have Camden Pale, Estrella and Corona on tap, and my pint of the former was served by one of the friendly bar team and tasted a lot better than a lot of the cocktails looked. This isn’t really somewhere I’d recommend to the pub-goer – it’s a cocktail bar aimed at large groups of young people and the beer is limited and overpriced. If cocktails are your thing, you could do a lot worse than this place, but otherwise, Crystal Palace has several good pubs that are a much better bet than this bar.