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The Broken Drum, Blackfen, Sidcup

Pub added by Aqualung .
308 Westwood Lane
Sidcup
DA15 9PT

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Broken Drum

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.

On 25th September 2020 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2442 recommendations about 2441 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


paulof horsham left this review about The Broken Drum

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.

On 4th March 2019 - rating: 7
[User has posted 449 recommendations about 421 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Rex Rattus left this review about The Broken Drum

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.

On 19th September 2018 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Real Ale Ray left this review about The Broken Drum

Three gravity served ales to choose from on our visit, which were Kent Brewery Pale, Kent Brewery Old Cocky and Wettons Brewery Xmas Old. We decided on the Kent Brewery Pale, which was outstanding and kept us here for a couple of pints. The owner was friendly and chatty and along with another couple of customers joining in the conversation, we could have stayed a lot longer.
We got the 51 bus from Sidcup, which was only a 15min journey and then jumped back on a 51 the other side of the bridge, continuing our journey to Welling, which took less than 10 mins.

On 16th January 2018 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3378 recommendations about 3378 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Malden man left this review about The Broken Drum

We visited on an early Saturday evening after watching football at Welling Utd, a mile or two away. I like the micropub concept, it seems to be an upward trend at a time lots of pubs are struggling, we had earlier been in another, The Door Hinge, in Welling itself. It follows the usual trend, basic and simple, a small room with a few tables, a counter in the back corner and the beers kept in the back room, served as requested, one by one, straight from the cask. They change around quickly, one off, next on, we experienced Frog Island Porter, Hop Stuff Pale Ale, Old Dairy Red Top plus there was a cider, Dudda's Tun spiced Blackcurrent, left that one alone. Another board listed the coming beers, rather more to be believed than the signs you see in Spoons, Rockin Robin Brewery Rockin Robin, (they must have known Alty were in town), Windsor & Eton Windsor Knot and Goacher's Gold Star.
Mobile phones are strongly discouraged, a fish tank on a corner shelf had a couple floating in it, it is all about convivial drinking and conversation. We picked a bit of a bad time as a fully booked quiz was about to commence on the Saturday at 7pm, an unusual time I thought, but the place was packed with quizzers and we felt obliged to drink up and leave as non participants which was a shame.
Decor had loads of beermats, a map of Kent micropubs, posters of forthcoming events plus the sign "A Broken Drum Cannot be Beaten".
We chatted to some of our other football supporters earlier who came in pre-match and instead of crawling as normal, stayed for nearly three hours. It's a decent spot. Food is snack stuff such as sausage rolls.

On 7th February 2016 - rating: 8
[User has posted 1707 recommendations about 1681 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Pub SignMan left this review about The Broken Drum

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.

On 26th July 2015 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Aqualung . left this review about The Broken Drum

Bexley Borough's third micropub opened on Friday 17th April 2015. It;s a former nail bar right next door to the A2 flyover across Westwood Lane. It's at the smaller end of the micropub scale but by no means the smallest I've been to.
Inside it's a carpeted square room with low tables and chairs rather than high ones. The tiny bar counter and cellar are at the back. This one only does three beers at a time which were RCH Pitchfork, Rudgate Mythicale and Canterbury Ales Reeves Ale.
I went for the Reeves Ale and the Pitchfork (both £3.00) which were in very good nick. The landlord here was very friendly and it is cheaper than the micropub opposition in these parts. However, the beer selection was not as interesting as I would have hoped for but that might just be the luck of the draw. I'd still much rather come here than any "normal" pub.

opening times are as follows :-

Monday to Thursday 15:00-21:30
Friday & Saturday 12:00-21:30
Sunday 13:00-15:30

Note closing times exclude half hour drinking up time.

On 13th July 2015 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]