The Golden Ark, South Croydon

Fairly large micropub in the unlikely location of Selsdon. I don't think I arrived here expecting a bit of a session, but we ended up staying for a while. 4 real ales are served. These were Durham Dark Angel, Caveman Paleolithic, Chapter Pemberley & Moor Rebirth. Real ciders were Dorset Nectar Elderflower Cider, Pulp Damson Cider, Orchards of Husthwaite Mulled Cider, Ciderniks To Be Frank, Hecks Port Wine of Glastonbury, Wise Owl Bittersweet Dry & Hawkes Winter Cider. Craft beers were Wylam Painting The Toon Broon, Thirst Class Dwayne Dubbely, Golden Ark Celebration IPA & Butcombe Stateside IPA. The owners and the locals are friendly and welcoming. The landlady appears to be Colombian. We'd probably already had enough by the time we even arrived here. So, a few beers and ciders later, I can't recall much more about this micropub. Suffice to say that my overall impression was that this was a very good example of the micropub genre and one I intend to return to in a more sober state!

This new micropub, opened in January 2019 in an unusually spacious shop converted premises, is a welcome addition to Selsdon’s otherwise rather feeble pub scene. The simple rectangular room has a red concrete floor and cream walls with large shop-window frontage whereby the lower section of each window pane is obscured, although this is still well below eye-level so passers-by can still easily look inside. Round tables and basic chairs run down the right hand wall, whilst to the left, hard benches and low stools serve a series of interesting longer tables made from irregularly cut pieces of wood. Decor is still rather minimal at this early stage in the pub’s existence, with a couple of pub signs, some contemporary art pieces, shelves full of beer bottles and of course, the inevitable pump clip collection still leaving plenty of bare wall space in their wake. An L-shaped servery fits snugly into the rear right corner with a modern tongue and groove counter and unattractive IKEA-style bar back. Boards running across the ceiling lintel detail the full draught range and to one side of the bar there is a comprehensive list of the bottle and can range, also helpfully noted in menu form on most tables. A bookcase with a few old paperbacks and a collection of board games stands opposite the bar, where some sofas and fridges full of the aforementioned bottles and cans can also be found. The staff here were very friendly, knowledgeable and chatty, taking time to welcome new faces and talk through the beer range, other micropubs and just about any other topic thrown their way. The handpulls offered a choice of Welton’s Old Harry, Clarkshaws Steam Beer and Wantsum Citra on my arrival, with a fourth pump being pulled through (eventually adding another Wantsum beer to the range) and two real ciders also available. I misread the beer boards and ordered a keg beer – Signal IPA (£3.80) – by mistake, but this was a pleasant enough drop and part of a wider range of six craft keg offerings including their own house ale, brewed especially for the pub’s opening. I also tried the Citra before leaving, which was in fine shape. I found this to be a nice, welcoming place that perhaps still needs a bit of time to bed in properly before it attains that homely feel you associate with a good micropub. The staff are a big asset here and there were a fair few interested locals popping in during my stay to suggest that they’ve a good chance of making this the top pub for quite some distance around.

New micropub.