Oberon, Newington, SE1

Having briefly been operated by the Antic chain until their estate collapsed during the pandemic, this place has since reopened as a fairly simple cocktail bar which has retained enough of the Antic aesthetic to make the pub’s previous incarnation relatively easy to guess. Perhaps the most obvious example of this has to be the mis-matched seating, which runs around much of the perimeter for this fairly broad but shallow room, enhanced by a couple of padded banquettes here and there. Nice stained-glass windows, especially to the rear of the room, added some character and the wood panelling around parts of the room gave the place a bit of a private member’s bar feel. The servery is on the back wall, directly opposite the entrance, and has been given a bit of a spruce up, with glittery fixtures and fittings contrasting with the traditional pub counter and bar back. We visited on a mid-week evening during their happy hour but were the only customers for the majority of our ninety-minute stay – a fact which may well explain why this place has since closed its doors for good. On the bar, there were a couple of mainstream keg options but no handpulls. I ended up trying a couple of their cocktails, which were pretty good and reasonably priced if purchased as part of the happy hour deal. The barmaid was very friendly and welcoming, letting us take our seats whilst she prepared our drinks and then bringing them over for us. I’m not much of an expert on cocktail bars, but quite enjoyed my time here, despite the lack of atmosphere on a quiet mid-week evening. Whilst I can’t say it would be the sort of place I’d recommend for a pub experience, it was pretty good at what it did and I’m sorry to see that they weren’t able to keep the place going. Date of visit – 3rd May 2023

Official site of Oberon - oberonbar.co.uk

Official site of Oberon - oberonbar.co.uk

This is the latest incarnation in Antic's ever changing and unpredictable pub empire, although this one isn't really what I would call a pub. It's opposite the main Elephant & Castle shopping centre, housed on the ground floor of a modern block. As you would expect it's modern inside, with two-tone modern parquet style wooden flooring, mostly fairly comfortable whicker chairs, fixed bench seating and normal tables, but with the centre of the room dominated by a tall table accompanied by a couple of uncomfortable looking solid wood backless benches. The ceiling seems to be concrete or unadorned plaster with some metal supports that look as if the should be supporting some ducting but aren't. Typical Antic. There's no real ale, just a couple of keg "craft" beers from Villages Brewery - Pilsner at 4.4%, and Whistle Stop IPA at 4.6%. This place surprised me with another first, being somewhere with draught beer that doesn't sell it in either pint or halfpint measures. The only measure they sell it in is two-thirds, and I had the fortune to buy two-thirds for the price of a pint with the Whistle Stop at £4 for two-thirds. As you would expect it's a very cold and very hoppy gassy beer. I don't know if they are doing food yet - there were no menus on any of the tables. Advertised as opening at 4.00 PM, I arrived at 3.45 PM and sat outside at one of their tables reading my paper when after about 5 minutes one of the bar staff came out and asked if I was looking for a drink. Nice touch, maybe he would have brought my drink out to me? But of course I went inside to purchase my drink in the traditional way. It seems the opening times are flexible. Even so, it really isn't my sort of place and I can't see a return visit on the horizon.