The Alma, Crystal Palace, SE19

The Alma is just across the road from the White Hart. Once inside there is a single U shaped room with the bar facing,the room is bare boarded,the seating normal tables and chairs. There was a good choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Cronx Standard Bitter which went down well,the other beers were Adnams Lighthouse,West Berks Good Old Boy and Kent Brewery Pave. The pub was very busy with a more upmarket type of drinkers. I was happy enough having a drink in here while on a pub crawl of the area. Pub visited 16/4/2016

Official site of the Alma, contains menus - www.thealmapub.com

Official site of the Alma, contains menus - www.thealmapub.com

The Alma is a simple, single room gastro pub at the southern tip of Crystal Palace’s central triangle. The U shape layout places the bar at the front, opposite the front door and flanked by seating areas either side. The décor is standard gastro pub stuff, with wooden floors, pastel shaded walls with the occasional bit of exposed brickwork and a good deal of plain mirrors hanging from them. The seating is mostly standard chairs around fairly large tables which you could easily fit a large family group around, although there were a few sofas in the rear right corner under some unusual bookshelf image wallpaper. There are a few curios to distract the eye including posters from the Crystal Palace Expo, a large penny farthing style bicycle wheel and at least one animal skin on the wall. Music played quietly in the background whilst a host of young families sat dining with generally well behaved kids in tow. Four hand pulls offered Windsor and Eton Canberra, Skinners Betty Stogs and Castle Rock Harvest Pale with the last pump bearing a turned clip for Moorhouse Pride of Pendle. The keg range had a few surprises including Hoegaarden, Sagres and Symonds Cider. The Canberra was in good shape and the staff were working hard to deal with all the food and drink orders that were pouring in. This isn’t a great place for the drinker as the emphasis is so clearly on the diner, which is a shame given the decent beer range. If visited at the right time, this might make a good place for a pint or two, but as it is, it’s best visited for food or for a quick pint as part of a crawl.

New ownership for the last six months or so and they have really turned this pub around, four ales on tap, including a very decent Betty Stoggs, worth a visit.