The Broken Drum, Blackfen, Sidcup

Yesterday evening was my second visit to this Blackfen micropub in the shadow of the A2. It's a medium-sized single room micropub that is typical of the concept, serving 3 real ales and 2 real ciders. Conversation and banter is good and it can get busy quite quickly, due to the limited number of tables. The drinks selection yesterday was Titsey Leveson Buck & Gower Wolf, Beerblefish Hippy Little Fish, Biddenden Red Love & Dudda's Tun Greenhorn.

The Broken Drum closely follows the original micropub formula: a one-room shop conversion, with simple tables and chairs down each side. The 3 ales are kept in the cold room behind the bar; 2 from Pig & Porter on our visit, and in great condition. The welcome was friendly, the landlord affable and chatty. Overall, there's not much here, but what there is, is done well, and it's a fine place to linger for a while.

This micropub is typical of the breed, which is a very good thing indeed. In fact I reckon that it's better than most because it had just about enough space to have normal tables and chairs on both sides of the room, whereas most have to resort to having tall tables and/or benches with tall stools to fully utilise the available space. I didn't see the fishtank; maybe it's gone. On one wall they had black and white photographs, and on the other humorous prints of wizards and the like (I think that's what they were). They still have three real ales on, gravity dispensed from a room at the back. The three on when I visited were Westerham British Bulldog, Gadd's Cloud Surfer, and Ripple Steam IPA. All were £3 a pint which really good going. I also saw some pork pie slices in a bowl on what passes for a bar counter - I guess that was the menu. Brilliant! - no complaints from me. This is a top micropub. Definitely worth going out of your way to visit - as long as you appreciate the micropub concept.

This micro pub, located in a former beauty salon and opened in April 2015, takes its name from a fictional pub mentioned in the novels of Terry Pratchett (A broken drum cannot be beaten). The front windows have been partially obscured with a picture of a drum picked out alongside the pub's name, web address and the words "Gravity fed real ales from the cask". As is the norm for such ventures, the interior is a small single room set up with a notional servery on the rear wall next to a door to the taproom where the beers are indeed poured straight "from the cask". The room is carpeted and has a couple of benches under the front windows, either side of the entrance, and standard tables and chairs through the rest of the room. Each table had a beer towel and mixed beer mats from various local breweries as well as a laminated slip of paper listing tempting traditional bar snacks. The walls are painted white and decorated with some bright contemporary photos, a pump clip collection, a community noticeboard which promoted several other micro pubs, a few local history photos and some Terry Pratchett items including framed beer mats and a Mended Drum pub sign, also lifted from one of his novels. Most striking was an excellent hand drawn map of Kent detailing the county's numerous micro pubs and micro breweries. Shelves in one corner held a collection of Good Beer Guides, CAMRA literature and board games. The pub currently serves three ales which on this visit comprised Gadds No 5, Hop Stuff Renegade IPA and Tonbridge Coppernob. Boards behind the bar detail the current range and give a flavour of some of the beers waiting to come on. I gave the IPA a try and it was in sparkling condition, to the point that I was very tempted to return for another. I was the only customer when I arrived but the place slowly started to fill after a while and I would like to think the locals can sustain such a venture. This was a nice place to enjoy a quiet pint of well kept ale and a good example of the micro pub concept should you be unfamiliar with it. I hope this place becomes a real success, as the immediate area is fairly lacking in decent pubs - something that this place has gone a long way to remedy.

Official site of The Broken Drum - www.thebrokendrum.co.uk

Official site of The Broken Drum - www.thebrokendrum.co.uk