Ashburnham Arms, Greenwich, SE10

Like Rex, I thought the visual appeal of this mid-19th century pub and its location would be home to fine things, but appearances flatter to deceive, the sight of a Shep’s sign hardly lifting the spirits. The small interior is smart enough though modern ‘old’ and a bit twee, with floral Arts & Crafts-style wallpaper, boarded floor, traditional furniture, Victorian-style sconces and spun copper shades with filament bulbs over the bar, then a few framed prints; a room to the rear right-hand side was done up in a trendy style, patronised by a younger clientele, those to the front being an older bunch, one incredibly loud Spaniard having a conversation in Spanish with a more muted barmaid. A typical Shep’s ale range, with Masterbrew at £2.35 a half and as good as it’s ever going to get, served by the aforementioned barmaid. This isn’t a bad pub, but you expect better, the ale choice not helping; the Morden Arms is around the corner.

Official site of Ashburnham Arms - www.ashburnham-arms.co.uk

Official site of Ashburnham Arms - www.ashburnham-arms.co.uk

Immaculate back street (where the houses are no doubt in the millions!) pub. Saturday afternoon and I was the only punter. Number of humans doubled by the silent barstaff, obviously wondering how she was going to get through the day. Its a shame, as the decor and beer (shepherds neame) were both first class. You could even save the price of the Times, read theirs and help contribute to the local economy. My visit blogged at http://bit.ly/2nw0e2o

Spitfire, Masterbrew, Kent's Best, Whitstable Bay, all in pretty good shape, the latter very good indeed, as one would hope for £3.20. The pub is fairly characterless with insipid modernity but I hadn't previously realised it has a nice part-tented beer garden to the rear, in addition to the outside seating at the front.

This is still a Shepherd Neame pub, which had on Master Brew and Whitstable Bay Pale Ale on when we dropped in there on Thursday evening. Food seems to be an odd mix of “Indian” style or gastro. You could have game pie or Sri Lankan chicken curry for the same price - £8.95. One of the starters also caught my eye - "roasted figs wrapped in Parma ham with blue cheese" at £5.25. Sounds delicious, but I resisted the temptation on this occasion. It's an old backstreet pub set in an attractive residential road, but as far as I could see there's nothing left of its original pub ambience. There's some modern art type decor, including a large (circa 6' x 6') canvass screen with some sort of representation of Greenwich in mainly green splodges. Fine if you like that sort of thing. Furnishings are basic tables and chairs, with a couple of sofas, and with the seemingly obligatory flashing fairy lights. The walls have modern looking light pine panelling on the lower levels. For some reason it all seems a bit false in here, and felt a bit like sitting in a Chinese takeaway. For me the best thing was the green banded windows, suggesting that it may have been a Charrington's pub in the past. The exterior of this pub suggests something special inside, but I was disappointed. The Whitstable Bay Pale Ale was just OK, but I don't expect to pay a return visit any time soon.

Nice location but very average and rather characterless.

Randomness Guide to London - Ashburnham Arms entry

Randomness Guide to London - Ashburnham Arms entry