The Southwark Tavern, SE1

Randomness Guide to London - Southwark Tavern entry

Randomness Guide to London - Southwark Tavern entry

I had to wait a good few minutes in here when the pub wasn't that busy as the barmaid was having great difficulty getting to grips with the bottle opener. When I was finally served my pint of Pride was 3/4 full as she had no idea how to pull a pint. She was very pleasant and polite, but maybe she should have been accompanied by a more experienced member of staff rather than running the bar on her own. Abbot, Old Hooky and Liberty were all available along with the Pride, which was good, and some premium lagers. There is a small cellar bar which was open during my visit, although the actual bar was closed. This pub is ok, but it is in an area were it has a lot of far superior competition.

I've never bothered to go into this pub before as on the previous winter evenings I've gone past the lacklustre brown-tiled Victorian façade has never appealed. But on this warm summer evening the double doors were open and there was a large crowd drinking outside, so I decided to venture in. It's a two bar pub although I didn't make it down to the lower bar. The ground floor has a central bar serving a decent enough wide range of drinks including continental lagers and a decent array of handpumps including London Pride and Hook Nortons Old Hooky. Not the smartest on service as, of all the pubs I tried on this crawl I had to wait the longest to be served in the Southwark Tavern. Bat, although not very rapid, the bar staff were serving in order, so all in all, a decent enough stop close to Borough Market.