please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Now relabeled Zeitgeist and we watched Germany's apocalyptic 2-0 defeat to South Korea here during the 2018 World Cup. Hence, it was full of Germans with replica shirts and facepaint all of whom took defeat in a sporting manner. Beers are many and all German so the variety is very much all about various spins on lager - Köstritzer and Krombacher are the dark options. Overall, very good and all the better for getting away from the bench tables and lederhosen template of Bavarian places.
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Nice building - large open plan area. Beers were all unknown german brews (something Hell) served in large tankards (probably still a pint) for £5 a pop.
Only in London.
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As you would expect of a German pub, the beer is excellent. I like the food but I'm hardly a connoisseur. Last visit I enjoyed a decent bratwurst. The crowd seems to vary - I have been in there when it was full of German ex-pats and other times, even on a Saturday night, when it is half full and clearly mainly Brits. Obviously the atmosphere is better when it's crowded so if you have a dull night in there, might be worth trying another time.
I've only seen FC St Pauli games in there and that is worth a visit on it's own if you aren't familiar with this radical German club and it's anti-fascist fans.
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Will try to be positive about this place but will struggle!
If you like loud German football blasted at you at a horrific unaceptable decibel level and some decent German beer, then fair enough, this is a good place. Came here thinking it would be original but was severly disappointed. The bar staff are surly and faintly hopeless- the bar maid I spoke to cocked up my order for food and then my order for drink. I was given a desert instead of a main course which on reflection might have improved the over priced excuse for schnitzel I was served. The ambience of this warehouse is dreadful- a German pub with no Germans- but a strange assortment of drunk Brits wearing Bayern Munich shirts. Will need to visit the ENT unit of my local hospital to cure the ear bleed of German commentary- I would avoid.
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Excellent German pub hidden inside a traditional London corner-pub exterior. Nice decor and atmosphere. The range of draught German beers is very good and supplemented by several decent bottled options. The food is delicious, the Munich Schnitzel in particular is recommended. Bar staff are friendly and keep waiting times down to managable levels even when it's busy.
The best place in London to watch the Bundesliga or 2.Bundesliga on big screens and some games (particularly those featuring FC St.Pauli) attract a fair size crowd.
Draught beers are normally £4.50 a pint, and Schnitzels anywhere between £10-£16, but they have a Happy Hour on Monday Nights where pints are a mere £3.50 and all Schnitzels are £7.95. However, beware that they shut early on a Monday although it's probably the best day to check this place out if you aren't 100% sure it's your cup of tea. If you are a German beer and cuisine enthusiast though( which includes me), any time is a good time to come here!
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If you like German beer and food then this is a good place to go, run by German bar staff this is not a "german theme bar" but simply a pub that has a large selection of good beer on tap and a few on bottle.
Reasonably priced food and pints of beer around the £4.50 mark, I drank an "alt" beer in bottles for £4.20.
Very pleasant and efficient bar staff, the pub shows Bundesliga football on a big screen.
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Excellent German pub with cracking beer and food! If it wasn't just hat bit too far from home this would be my local!
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Strange place to find a German bar. But worth a vist.
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This is quite an odd bar, but if you drink during their happy-hour it's worth going to for a couple if you are in the area. We paid �3 per pint until 6pm and then prices went above �4.
With it's pretentious alternative title of 'Zeitgeist@ The Jolly Gardeners', and hilariously high perching couches, it has the feel of a tw*ts bar from The City. The barmaids were friendly and offered us tasters. We tried two beers I've never heard of which were fine, but I'm not sure they sell anything really exciting. I'm no expert on German beer but they serve Kaltenberg Hell (brewed in Blackburn by Thwaites), and Lowenbrau which is cheap in Sainsbury's. The locals were a mix of Germans watching football on the big screen and grumpy office boys.
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Indeed Bart, a fine establishment serving very good German beer served by real German barmaids, about 10 mins walk from Vauxhall station.
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An excellent pub. Top marks for the beer and food.
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I know I've posted before, but I like to keep up to date with my opinions... The Jolly Gardiners is a strange thing. It's an entirely German pub, in an area not known for being brilliant, but it's still mad good. The staff REMAIN really knwledgeable about the beer they are selling, I've never seen anyone being surly or unfriendly, and I can't think of anywhere else that would sell the beers they do.
Excellent
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Jurgen and Hikke have pulled this off, against all odds. I remember the Jolly gardeners of old and it's definately better now. However the beer is horrendously expensive, so I rarely go in. The 'token' system in place during the world cup means you end up spending �4 a pint, absolute con. I've always found the food to be slightly odd in here, especially the world cup 'buffets'. Basically, worth a visit but don't make it your regular haunt if you're not rich and stupid.
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The Jolly Gardeners serves a good selection of German beers (draught and bottled). I particularly like the draught Weihenstephan beers. I've been there three times in the last year and always found the staff friendly and helpful. (Note: they only serve German beers.)
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Visited once more after a delay of a year and a bit, and still amazed why this German bar isn't more well known for it's vast range of beers and atmosphere, compared to the Cask and Kitchen over the River in Pimlico.
Seek it out chaps! For something better and different in central London. Highly recommended.
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I really like this place. The staff have always been really attentive whenever I've been in there, and the schnitzel is good too (although to be fair - where else can you get schnitzel in a pub??).
I really hope it carries on doing well, as it would be a real loss to the area if it went.
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Have to disagree that its a "charmless pub, in a charmless area, with charmless people". We went recently for a friends 40th and it was a great night - the staff were really friendly and helpful with suggestions for some friends who weren't sure what they wanted. The bar itself, although quite modern was inviting and comfortable. As for the area being charmless - seriously do you only visit pubs in "well to do" areas or something.
I recommend this pub to anyone who likes some non fizzy pop good lager from Germany - and wants to try something different than your usual Lloyds/Yates experience. The selection of beers is really good, they have german good and a warm welcome. The area really isn't that bad - and you can get a bus from Vauxhall or the Elephant and Castle that stops about 2seconds walk away if you're really scared of walking round South London!
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No wre800, that isn't London, it's the Lambeth Walk. And despite the various German beers and food, all very expensive for what they are, this is a charmless pub in a charmless area, run by a charmless people, who have problems serving people.
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great beers, decent bar food and a good atmos - definitely worth a visit if you know your german beers. they even pour them right! ok, the area ain't great - i thought the lambeth walk would be more dickensian than 70's council - but that's London, MRLONDON!
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An excellent pub, good range of German beers and nice food. A visit to this establishment is a must. German football on the TV so you can watch Hun Vs Hun. Looking forward to my next visit!
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Very strange. A German bar in the middle of one of Lambeth's most deprived housing estates. Good luck.
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The range of German beer is wide and well kept. A little gem of a pub! No Augustiner though (A personal fave!) No German beer enthusiast should pass through this part of town without dropping in. Will definetely be back.
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Was MRLONDON in the right pub? I was here Friday evening with a group of friends who were visiting for the first time. Their verdict. A great pub, great beers good food and the service was good. Don't be put of by Mr London or the location, take a walk down Lambeth Way to a great pub.
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Really not worth going to. In a dodgey part of London with poor access and a muggers delight. Beer and building okay. However the service is terrible, despite 6 members of staff floating about behind the bar, customers ignored. Bomber Harris has a better chance of being served.
anonymous - 28 Feb 2009 13:13 |
Tried it tonight and well worth seeking out. And not all that far or hard to find. Very nice staff and interesting selection of brews.
anonymous - 19 Feb 2009 23:23 |
Lost for a "different" and pleasing place to visit, I ventured down, quite late in the day to discover for myself the German wonders of this beer palace tucked off the Albert Embankment. Great!!!!!! Try it for yourself.
anonymous - 19 Feb 2009 12:11 |
A massive 1890's pub cathedral, now turned over to being one of the very best beer pubs in London; specializing in German beer. Clean, well lit, massive screen for football, great food. A must for the little black beer book chaps!
anonymous - 31 Jan 2009 14:00 |
This place is going to be a tourist/beer drinkers dream destination. Superb selections of both bottled and draught German beers. Well worth planning a drinking visit for the night.
anonymous - 31 Jan 2009 12:28 |
Paid yet another visit to this place last night. Food was excellent, service good and cheerful, beer selection seems to be getting better, if that's possible. Glad to see it busy, it really is worth going out of the way for.
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Organised a Christmas meal there on Saturday afternoon. They were very helpful in organising it for us, even arranging for vegetarian options on the Christmas menu. The food was tasty and arrived all together and warm, which was quite good for a group of 20 and reasonably priced.
The beers were very popular with a few of the group being in 7th heaven at the choice and tastyness of the beers. The Weihenstephan Dunkel being particularly popular.
Quite a lot of the group can't wait to go back.
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Visited for second time yesterday and as a result uped my score. This is a really nice, welcoming pub. Add to that the great range of draft and bottled German beers all served brilliantly by pleasant and efficient bar staff and you're on to a winner! The food is excellent. As a meat eater I had more choice than my veggie colleague, but he was more than happy with the german noodles. Will be back as often as possible.
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Very pleasant German girls from Hamburg, (students studying here). Superb service and knowledge of German beer, how to serve it correctly. Good bar snack of five German sausages. A very great find in south London. A GREAT FOR A party with mates or Christmas bash. Enjoy!
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Popped in to check this place out. Great selection of German beers on draught and in bottles. Erdinger Dunkel at �3.50 for 1/2 a litre bottle was pretty reasonable and I haven't seen it poured so well this side of the channel! Food was good and not too expensive, staff very friendly. It was quiet at lunchtime but enough folk in to make it feel like a pub. Would recommend it.
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A fairly surprising location for this excellent German gastropub. The choice of beers, both on draft and bottled, is outstanding. The staff are friendly, the food is good and the place is large enough that you can usually get a table inside (it's slightly more of a battle in the tiny beer garden).
You can also catch coverage of Bundesliga football matches here.
Highly recommended.
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Superb afternoon yesterday for the Bier-Mania Oktoberfest @ Zeitgeist. Superb selection of German beers and excellent food. Love this place.
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Now heavily refurbished in slightly Teutonic style (appropriately) and a long way from its old incarnation as a shabby local. A pleasant range of German beer, as well as food that looked good but we didn't try any.
Pleasant staff, comfortable benches; beer �3.70 a pint which makes an evening here a little dear. Good though.
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A Kraut bar in Kennington;Mein Gott Farters! Place was packed full of them tonight, all dressed as Nuns. Possible forward attack division? Ring the invasion bells! Excellent place! Superb selection of German beers and food. Clean, comfortable and big. Good luck! Enjoy! A must to visit!
anonymous - 25 Sep 2008 23:48 |
Excellent selection of German beers - the Weihenstephan wheat beer is top. It is often quite quiet, but then again, on a sunny Friday evening, the little beer garden can be packed. As far as I can tell, the clientele are mostly suited workers from the nearby offices, especially at lunch time, and I haven't heard many Germans out there amongst them (and certainly not amongst the staff!), but that's not a crime.
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Went there on the Thursday night after play at the Oval test. with friends. Found bar staff friendly and helpful to cricket fans a little worse for wear.
Had a good selection of German beers some not too fizzy. Only thing it was a very quiet night with a high percentage of German families among the customers, so asume this pub must be busy on weekend , just a bit to qiet like anempty barn.
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excellent German gay bar
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Visited here after play was washed out at The Oval down the road on the Saturday at the Test Match, as it was somewhere I really wanted to visit. Resolutely black interior and exterior but inside found a friendly German welcome. The beers were excellent, with the Warsteiner a particularly tasty pills and a tasty kolsch beer recommended by the barman. Tasty Nurnburger sausages with mash and sauerkraut all topped off with the ever excellent Weihenstephaner wheat beer. All in all, a fine pub experience and hopefully it'll find a successful niche.
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I'm learning German atm, and like German beers, so was keen to try out this pub, though a bit daunted by some of the comments.
It was quite nicely decorated, the staff seemed friendly and put up with our really dodgy pronunciation of some of the beers names. The beers were tasty and varied though they had nothing stronger than about 6%.
My food when it arrived was a little pricey (but then it is a gastro pub) and tasted absolutely gorgeous.
The clientel of the pub seemed to mostly be Germans, which I think is a good sign, but they were quite happy to have our little group there.
I can't wait to go back.
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After reading the last comment I went in with some trepidation. However, I found the bar staff nice and helpful and the food quite good. Paulaner Weizen is one of the finest beers I've ever tasted. Although it was Tuesday and was pretty desolate it has a nice beer garden area at the back. Will be back to try the rest of the wheat beer and the veal escolope
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It seems that my comments have been deleted. Not sure why, but I certainly don't work for any other pub. One of my friends was physically assaulted after the left the pub by the landlord of the pub. He was set upon after complaining about the food and was badly beaten up. The police are following up on my friends complaint.
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Visiting Tate Britain and getting a bus at Vauxhall [No36 to Paddington if you intend to visit pub] and I saw an article for this place at �the grittier end of Lambeth Walk� Not kidding! Just walk through the park. However, that is another story.
German Beer choice immense. However, now at �3.80 which is rather steep and probably unnecessary. Food came in cheaper and was very good.
Pub empty at one o�clock on Tuesday lunchtime although next pub towards the river was packed with office workers.
Staff needs an injection of humour. All rather dour. Will try it again but disturbed by those beer prices�.
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Great beer, great food and the crowds are getting bigger every time I go.
This is a proper German pub with German ownership and staff, so if you always wanted to know more about German beer culture, this is the place. Easily beats all the other attempts at creating German pubs in London and is definitely the pub to choose if you're still interested in Euro 2008.
Can wholeheartedly recommend this place - check it out.
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Very large, German themed pub with a lot of different German beers and German food menu. It takes some nerve to be so thoroughly themed; if you're looking for a beer that's not German your choices are very few. On the other hand despite the large number of bottled and draught beers (maybe 20 bottled beers, and a dozen on draught) the choices are very heavily skewed towards Pilseners and Weissbiers. Perhaps because it's nearly summertime......
They do good German food, of a definitely heavy nature (don't blame the pub though!).
Ambience was quite lacking.. a small number of people, bad blaring pop music (not of a German nature, just generally bad), and lots of hard surfaces so the noise from the punters and the music was much more than you'd expect from such a quiet night (as far as numbers go).
I wish I had liked this pub much more than I actually did - perhaps I should have visited during their recent beer festival!!
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I can only assume James32 works in a rival pub nearby, because I am black and I found the manager and staff perfectly friendly. Great range of perfectly kept German beers, served in their correct glasses (Wetherspoon take note!), unfortunately I'd eaten before I went because the Currywurst looked and smelled great - next time! I do hope this bold venture succeeds, it was rather quiet for a Saturday night. I shall certainly be going back!
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Haven't been..sounds great..beer festival with a huge range of beers never before seen in the UK...May 15-17...I'm there...well I will be pdq just to check the BQ!
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Achtung! Dont turn your back on the customers, looks like you need them.
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Cheers, kenspubs55 - don't mind what you think about other people's reviews, you're entitled to your opinion. But the reviews are NOT written by staff. I happen to work at least 45 minutes away from Vauxhall (on a good day)and think I can safely say that my job neither involves bar work, nor running a pub, nor do I have any other connection to the Jolly Gardeners - I simply enjoy going there. And what is wrong with cleaning up the place, giving it a lick of paint and making it look a bit more welcoming?
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Tasty, authentic German food (no, not just Schnitzels), nice atmosphere and lots of great beers on tap. The only place in London I have found so far that serves DAB - well done! They've done a pretty good job renovating and redecorating the place as well, plus the bar staff were friendly and competent. Hope that word gets 'round, it really seems a nice place.
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Fabulous new German management. Great interior design, lots of tasty german beer and amazing food. Very friendly bar staff, I'll be back!
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This has recently reopened as a German pub after a complete refit. It's a very nice space. All beers are German and mostly imported.
Food is German too, currywurst was �5.95 and there are many other dishes.
Only disadvantage is pints average �3.50.
Interior is lovely but the place is fairly quiet as not many people know it's there.
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live near her, lameth walk closed by and ossie cafe. not a cafe bar. carpet. dogs alloweded, not an old mans pube saturday and fridry music/karoaoke, book new yeer now
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Pub turned into Cafe/bar, don't knock it for that!
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Local pub
anonymous - 3 Jan 2006 21:52 |
