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Disappointment of the week with Tris39
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Duke, Deptford, SE8
SE8
SE8 3BU
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 4½ of 10) see review guidelines
Tris C left this review about The Duke
This place dates back to the mid-19th century, but is now in a far from Victorian area, one now dominated by high-rise glass ‘apartment blocks’ and is also nestled in the shadow of a substantial campus and student accommodation block for the University of Greenwich.
Seemingly unchanged since the previous review, the interior is what I’d call ‘restrained trendy’, with a boarded floor, plum walls and white ceiling, open kitchen with pizza oven, a bar back with shiny ceramic tiles and massive industrial lamps over it, a Space Invaders machine, mismatched furniture and a pool table dominating the frontal area. There were a few residential types in on my mid-Friday evening visit, but the rest of the customers were overwhelmingly studenty types which came as no surprise, the overall ambience was relaxed but would be improved if the pool table were moved to the rear.
The ale selection amounted to a reversed clip, Wadworth XXXXXX and Horizon at £2.40 a half and as ho-hum as it’s ever going to be.
This isn’t a bad place, but it can’t displace the Dog & Bell up the road.
On 2nd July 2023
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1983 recommendations about 1949 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Duke
The ales on here were Adnam's Ghost Ship, Ringwood Razorback, and By the Horns Stiff Upper Lip (£4 a pint). The first pint of SUL came up cloudy, but when we pointed this out the barmaid assured us that there was a note on the cask that said it might be hazy. Hmmm - we were unconvinced as we had had BTH beers before. The second pint was less cloudy - very hazy perhaps - with the third drink up, a half, being only slightly hazy. When we pointed out that unlike the pints, the half was only slightly hazy, the barmaid said that was probably because the glass of the pint glasses made it look different. That's a new one on me. By this time she realised we weren't happy with the beer condition and invited the pint drinkers to try them with the implied condition that if they were dissatisfied they could be changed. But they judged them drinkable and that was an end of the matter. But most pubs would have changed them without debating the issue.
The food seemed straightforward enough. The "cheeseburger and rosemary salt fries" is £11, and I also spotted "beer battered fish goujons, pea puree and tartare sauce" at £7. This seemed to me to be pub grub dressed up in fancy names.
The pub's bare-boarded, the furnishings are scrubbed dining room tables with normal chairs, plus a sofa or two. We saw a roof terrace advertised, but didn't explore it. There was a lot of black paint around, with black painted bar counter, pillars, and wall behind the counter. One interesting, and most unusual, bit of kit was the retro (70s?) Space Invaders machine. The music being played, at low volume, was also very retro being from the 50s and 60s. There are books on a shelves in front of the windows, presumably for patrons' use.
Despite the beer issue (which I generously presume and hope might be an isolated incident) I found this pub to be different enough to be interesting. It's nothing like the traditional sort of pub that I like most, but it's certainly worth a visit if you're nearby. It was fairly quiet on Wednesday lunchtime, but maybe it's busier in the evenings.
On 27th September 2016
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Duke
The Duke is a little isolated midway between Deptford and Greenwich and there isn’t any real reason to go out of the way to visit it. To be honest you won’t miss much.
Many pubs in the area have fallen to the demolition ball so the fact that it is still around is I suppose one bonus point. In the past it was well known a local music pub (Squeeze and Dire Straits have both played here in the beginnings) but was until recently a fairly run down boozer of no great merits. It has now undergone a modern makeover and is now a trendy, contemporary pub/bar/kitchen of no great merits.
The interior is quite spacious and split into front and rear sections with the main bar at the front displaying the now pre-requisite sofa section and rear section comprising mainly of old dining tables. There is a minimalist feel to the place with some modern artwork, bare black floorboards, plain walls and ceilings and it comes over as a pretty faceless and bland place to spend an evening. Upstairs is a small terrace with views across a piece of wasteground a few rooftops, OK for a quick puff but not really somewhere to gaze at the stars with your loved one.
There were 3 hand pumps with London Pride, Landlord and 1 unused. The Landlord was good quality but an outrageous £3.40 (and this was before the recent VAT increases). The food was a mix of pub grub and more adventurous (if a little pretentious for the area) dishes with main courses around £8-12. The vegetarian choices did seem to be more interesting and numerous than normal pub offerings.
Just who would be drawn to the place or who it is aimed at isn’t really clear but on my visit the place seemed to be like a meeting place for local foreign communities with groups bellowing across the pub in a multitude of languages at each other and I can’t say I felt particularly comfortable. If nothing else, the place acts as a half way stop between Deptford and Greenwich but personally, I’d probably just keep walking.
On 10th February 2011
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]