Earl of Derby, New Cross, SE14

Official site of Earl of Derby - earlofderby.uk

Official site of Earl of Derby - earlofderby.uk

Tucked away in the gentrified back streets of New Cross, this is a similarly gentrified pub, having been spruced up from it's former Earl of Derby, local's boozer days, creating a smart, two room pub with a confusing name. You enter via a front patio area, covered with a kind of gazebo and filled with ample picnic bench seating, into an attractive etched glass front porch. The pub has a two room layout, with a horseshoe shaped front bar, bare boarded with bench and standard seating arranged around the walls and a nice fireplace to the right hand side. A narrow seating area appears past the right hand end of the bar, with enough space for a handful of tables and a fireplace identical to the one in the front bar, eventually emerging into a spacious rear room which can also be accessed by a passage to the left of the bar, passing a stack of board games and a popular juke box. The rear room also has exposed floorboards and a pleasant screen to the rear which hides the entrance to the toilets from view. Mixed bench and standard seating abounds, but the lack of soft furnishings coupled with the large open space means that the room gets a bit loud, especially when you're sat next to a large group of drunk women downing shots, as we regrettably were. The walls are mostly painted in red and the main focal point is a huge map of the world which takes up the entire left hand wall. Various military themed items round out the visual distractions on offer. Additional seating is available upstairs, but there were still enough free tables on our visit to rule out a relocation up there. Food is available, reasonably priced with most main courses around £10, and the minute steak I tried was huge and good value by my reckoning. There were four ales on the bar - Fullers London Pride and Front Row, Deuchars IPA and Sharps Doom Bar. Keg options were fairly standard, but included Leffe and Fullers Honeydew. I tried the Front Row, which was past its best, and the IPA which I thought was pretty good. The service was good and I found all of the staff very helpful and courteous. I'm not sure you'd seek this isolated pub out, but I really enjoyed my visit and thought it was a friendly and cosy spot for a drink, whilst also very much enjoying the food as well. There's enough here to keep the traditionalist and the trendy locals happy and I too would be satisfied with a return visit.

Randomness Guide to London - Telegraph At The Earl Of Derby entry

Randomness Guide to London - Telegraph At The Earl Of Derby entry