The Gowlett, SE15

There were four real ales on during my visit – London Pride; Deuchars IPA; Adnam’s Broadside; and Wadworth’s 6X. The 6X was excellent, and at £3.10 a pint not too unreasonably priced. There were also a couple of pumps that were unclipped. The food on offer was almost entirely pizzas, at £8 a throw, and clearly freshly made and baked. But you can buy slices at £1.50 a time, and a couple of these made an excellent and tasty snack. There is a horseshoe shaped bar counter, with the drinking area obviously wrapped around it. The corner door brings you into what I would regard as the main bar. The floor here is bare boarded, with what are undoubtedly original boards, still with the boarded (presumably unused?) trapdoor to the cellar unusually in front of the bar counter. But maybe the bar counter has been moved at some stage. In the corner there is a DJ style music system; there’s a couple of sofas with a low table with an unusual glass panelled surface. To the right of the bar counter there is a separate drinking area that would have been a separate room at some stage. This area is carpeted, with some normal tables and chairs, and dark brown plastic upholstered banquettes and small stools. All the tables had on them those small candles. This pub looks for all the world like a failed attempt to move upmarket. Changing the name from “The Gowlett Arms” to just “the gowlett”, and not even the more grammatically correct “The Gowlett” (whatever a gowlett might happen to be), looks to be evidence of pretentiousness to me. For a pub that was apparently the CAMRA South-East pub of the year for 2005/06, I was expecting more. But it did have four ales on, so there are some pluses, but even so I don’t think I would bother to seek it out.

Randomness Guide to London - Gowlett entry

Randomness Guide to London - Gowlett entry

Nice corner pub serving a variety of good real ales.Local CAMRA pub of the year 2006.