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Beer of the Week (w/e 14th April 2024) with Thuck Phat
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Detail Pages
The Pilgrim, Kennington, SE11
SE11
SE11 5QU
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Tris C left this review about The Pilgrim
This place dates back to at least the early 19th century, but was probably rebuilt in the ‘20s or ’30s.
Out front there’s patio seating with metal chairs painted a garish chromium yellow; you then enter a deep pub with the bar at right. Very stripped out, there’s a pale boarded floor with some quarry tiles, a grey or white colour scheme with some bare brick lit by glass shades that resemble demijohns. Furniture is mixed, with low comfy stuff then tall chunky items with décor amounting to either Beavertown branding or framed meal deals aimed at a young studenty crowd, no doubt attracted by the loud music, not helped by poor acoustics.
Three pumps with clips reversed meant no cask on offer so it was a half of Gamma Ray at a painful £3.80, served by a flustered barmaid.
This isn’t a destination place by any comparison; I’ll leave it to the noisy students.
On 20th July 2023
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1982 recommendations about 1949 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Pilgrim
Box-like 1950s pub adjacent to the Kennington gas-holders - actually more attractive (in an understated way) than this might sound. Opened out inside to leave a long rectangular bar with generally light decor and patio seating areas at both ends. Very busy when I visited late on a hot summer afternoon, but efficiently staffed both behind the bar and for table clearance. Polycarbonate 'glasses' were in use because of T20 cricket match at the nearby Oval, and the real ale had run out (with reversed Tribute and Betty Stogs clips visible on two of the handles). However, I had a voucher for a free pint of something else (probably a bit more suited to the sweltering conditions anyway) so I could hardly complain...
On 28th July 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Pilgrim
A substantial looking street corner, red brick pub just a few yards away from the Beefeater distillery, it is a good size internally and has clearly had something of a renovation at some point, and now has quite a contemporary feel to it.
It’s largely one single, open plan room internally, and this had pale wood strip on the floor with some mottled tiling around the bar counter, white plasterwork and the obligatory exposed filament light bulbs that are essential in any pub refurbishment. There was a small brick fireplace although this was not in use on our visit, and a large projector screen at the rear that was showing Sky Sports. This seemed somewhat out of place I thought, and certainly nobody appeared to be taking any notice of it. Fortunately the volume was off, so it could have been worse, but the size of the screen did dominate somewhat. Beyond this was a patio area, although we did not investigate this.
Beers on tap were Deuchars IPA, Caledonian Golden XPA and their own Pilgrim Ale. The solitary cider meanwhile was Symonds Founders Reserve.
On 2nd February 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1945 recommendations about 1858 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Philip Carter left this review about The Pilgrim
Nice enough place, very light inside with white walls. Three large televisions showing Olympics. Front and back gardens. The ale was good. One of the barmaids boyfriend was in the pub wearing skates, he was skating in & out of the pub. Not sure if they are trying to do what some American bars do, and have skating servers, I doubt it would work.
On 16th August 2016
- rating: 7
[User has posted 757 recommendations about 720 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Pilgrim
Strangely enough we also dropped in on our way down to Vauxhall bus garage after doing a visit to the Beefeater Distillery round the corner (quite an interesting visit and you do get an excellent G&T included in the entrance price). Not bad looking from the outside but fairly unremarkable sports pub on the inside. Same two Caledonian beers available as reported below and we sunk a quick half on the paved outdoor seating area at the front before moving swiftly on.
On 16th August 2014
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2109 recommendations about 1991 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Pilgrim
There were a couple of Caledonian Brewery ales on in here - Deuchars IPA and Flying Scotsman (£1.80 a half). There was no sign of food or menus on Wednesday afternoon. I dropped in here because it was on the walk back to Vauxhall Station – I do have a thing about dropping into pubs I would otherwise be passing. The occasional “lucky dip” is worth doing.
But this one is in the “OK” category, being fairly unremarkable. There’s a pool table on the right as you enter, some banquettes and normal tables and chairs, and then down at the end a few sofas. There’s also a small stage down there, complete with speakers, microphones and similar musical paraphernalia. Conveniently, I spotted the advert for the live music on Friday featuring one Will Udall. There is some outside seating in a garden at the back, as well as at the front. I didn’t spot any wall decor, other than some adverts, but there were four TVs – all on (but muted) and showing Sky Sports. The best feature in this pub in my opinion is the latticed bay window at the front, still with a Watney’s Ales pane of glass in it. A table near the door had a pile of London Drinkers on it, which is always a plus.
This is not a destination pub, but worth dropping in to have a swift one if you, like me, just happen to be walking down Kennington Lane.
On 13th December 2013
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]