Black Boy, Avery Hill, Sidcup

This is a classic suburban, inter-war, two bar boozer in a generally under-pubbed residential area somewhere between Blackfen, Sidcup and New Eltham. You enter into the right-hand side to find a nice public bar with some surprisingly decent banquette seating around the perimeter, although ironically the seating had collapsed in the part that I chose to sit on. The servery is to the front and has an attractive, angular counter with a matching canopy covered with small blackboards and a sign reading "The Boys Bar". Three quarter height wood panelling covers most of the wall space with plain upper sections above. There was a TV to one side showing live football with the sound on, later switched to Sky Sports News, and a dartboard could be found on the other side of the room, along with a few old photos, promo bits and blackboards. You can pass through a short passage behind the servery to reach a similarly sized lounge bar. Seating and decor is much the same in here, with perhaps the biggest difference being the pool table, which occupies the rear part of room. Sadly there was no cask ale available, but I did manage to get a decent pint of Guinness for £4.80 and there were plenty of other mainstream keg beers to choose from too. The old-school landlord wasn't taking any nonsense from an older group of people who'd got smashed on sambucca in the lounge, refusing to serve them before getting them all to leave. This, along with the fact that the public bar remained empty throughout my stay, made for a bit of a weird vibe on my Saturday night visit. I thought this was an attractive pub with some interesting features and a nice, traditional layout, but struggling for custom and unable to support any cask ale. Plenty of suburban pubs like this have bitten the dust in recent memory and something looks like it needs to be done to prevent this place from going the same way. Date of visit - 25th November 2023

The door on the right hand (Restons Crescent) side has a glass panel identifying it as the Public Bar which looks original; a further unused and blocked in door on this side looks as if it would have provided access to a jug and bottle bar. The walls in the public bar are covered in plain and cheap-looking wood panelling to three quarter height. The bar counter in here has vertical fluted panelling with a piece of plain wood panelling for approx a foot just below the counter top, as well as a large gantry with a plain wood panelled front and with "The Boys Bar" and "Welcome to your Local" in gold script on it. The bar back has a mix of glass and wood shelves, and at the top illuminated signage for Double Diamond on the left, DD symbol in the centre, and Long Life on the right. Furnishings are traditional. The Saloon bar is on the left of the building with its own access door from the outside, as well as being joined to the Public Bar via a short corridor. This room is carpeted, whereas the Public Bar is not. It also has plain wood panelling on the walls to three-quarter height; the bar counter front has fluted panelling, with plain tongue and grove panelling above it for approx a foot. The counter in here is wood-framed with a smaller wood panelled gantry above it, giving it the appearance of a large serving hatch. The bar back in here backs on to the one in the Public Bar and is similar in style. There is signage on the top with Double Diamond on the left, the DD symbol illuminated in the centre, and Skol Lager on the right. There's a pool table in the middle of the room, which is furnished with normal tables and chairs. Unfortunately there's no real ale, although there are still four unused handpumps. There was no Guinness either, so we settled for halves of Prava lager. I saw free wi-fi advertised, as well as a DJ and disco. Definitely a throwback to the 60s and 70s. A large notice board is on one of the walls in the public bar. This is a locals' pub of course. I actually rather liked its simplicity and informality, but the absence of a real ale marks it down unfortunately.