The Phoenix, Stockwell, SW9

This is a mid-19th century pub, originally the Coach & Horses, renamed as the Phoenix following fire damage (how original) and recently taken over by Harvey’s, their third pub in London, all south of the river, presumably not to get too far from Sussex. The interior is very basic and spartan, rough scorched floorboards and a cream of mushroom soup colour scheme; wainscoting painted a shade of Portobello mushroom, the walls and ceiling closed cup button mushroom. There are dark roller blinds and mixed furniture with some cheap-looking banquettes, with studded cloth backs then dark vinyl seats, the whole very brightly lit, not helped by five TVs which for most of my stay broadcast the Sky menu, then silent unwatched tennis; customers were an animated young bunch, quite possibly students. A shoddy showing for a Harvey’s pub, especially for a Saturday night, with cask options amounting to two reversed clips then just Sussex Beast, £2.45 a half and not bad once warmed up. This is a rather characterless pub leaving mushroom for improvement, not helped with all the TVs; if you want a Harvey’s pub, go to the Royal Oak or the Cat’s Back.

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Basic pub with the bar to the right. Couple of weak hand pumps - rest keg. Would not return.

I was in here on 4 Jan at around 7.00 PM, and like aqualung found that they only had Best and Old on, with a couple of pumps unused. But my pint of Old was in very poor condition - undrinkable in my opinion. The barman wasn't happy about changing it - he tried it, and then said he didn't see how it could be off as there were still several gallons left in the barrel. But I was accompanied by several CAMRA colleagues who are experts on beer quality, and they too tried it and supported my opinion. But full marks to the landlord who then changed the barrel and produced an excellent pint of Old for me, instead of taking the easy option of giving me a pint of Best and leaving the same barrel of Old on in the hope that less discerning drinkers would accept it. The pub is as described by aqualung - fairly standard furnishings and a bit minimalist in a modern way. But it was doing a good trade on the Wednesday evening I was in, and was anything but a bit dead. I would hope that the beer issue was just a one-off and that I was just unlucky; and it was dealt with professionally after a bit of encouragement. Another ale from Harvey's range would be a big plus, but of course they can only stock the range that the custom will support. But I would certainly be happy to visit this pub again.

As mentioned below this was formerly the Circle Bar but prior to that it was an Ind Coope pub called the Coach and Horses. It's a fairly typical London corner pub with a ground floor area much larger then the two storeys above. Inside it's an L shaped room with wooden floors having been renovated in the current vogue. It's now a Harvey's pub and like their other two London outlets has a function room advertised. There is a solitary TV at the rear which had subtitles and a quiz advertised for Monday. The place was almost empty on my early Thursday afternoon visit. Although the bar has four hand pumps only Best and Old were available with two unused. I went for the Old (£3.30) which was in good nick and a surprisingly reasonable price for London. It's not a bad place but seemed a bit dead. I suspect it does a better trade in the evening and weekends.

Official site of The Phoenix - www.phoenixclapham.com

Official site of The Phoenix - www.phoenixclapham.com

After the Circle Bar burnt down in 2011 the Phoenix rose from the ashes, cough. The bare wooden flooring and mix of wooden furniture was what one would expect from an establishment that advertises itself as a bar and kitchen. Premium draught products line the bar and a cask ale offering of Doom Bar was present. On the wall was a board that gave a decent sized list of available bottled craft, speciality and world beers. I had a peek at the food menu to find that the mains were priced around £10, although I’m unsure how much the swordfish burger was. Televisions were showing a rugby match, but the governor turned one of these over at 16:45 on the recent Saturday I visited to watch the fulltime football results. I didn’t venture towards the rear of the pub so I did not see the advertised patio garden or the function room that is located on the first floor. After finishing my short measured half of some expensive premium lager I noted that the weekly quiz takes place on Mondays from 20:00. I found this place to be bland so I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit here again.