please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Was in here the other week and it still has a great selection of beers and excellent service. I ordered the roast which was good quality, relatively cheap but the portions were quite small. Still I suppose you can't have everything.
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I was impressed with the range of ale, the freindly service and the fact that they could show sport without it feeling intrusive or turning into a sports bar. Definitely worth a visit!
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A quality pub with a good range of beers (although I can't really remember what I had to drink.) There's something about it that makes it feel like a party kind of place, so your younger real ale drinker might find it a bit more accessible. Local workers might find it an ideal place for a Friday night debrief.
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To be honest I only have a hazy memory of the original Wheatsheaf, a casualty of the Thameslink upgrade programme and now lost forever beneath a new railway viaduct, but this atmospheric cellar bar is a creditable replacement on the Southwark circuit. Bit too polished for my tastes - like an upmarket version of the Hole In The Wall at Waterloo - but a great range of beers from all around the UK and well worth a stopoff.
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Paid my first visit here Thursday night & was impressed. A very decent range of beer on & good quality. Full marks for showing county cricket live on TV too :)
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Unlike the Market Porter this basement pub is less crowded but with a great range of real ale it has to be recommened. Not flash but wll worth a visit.
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Not very impresive from the outside but a really good pub.It's like a big cellar inside with TVs showing sports but not overly loud. There is a really good range of beers always in good condition. The staff are friendly abd efficient.
tanky - 19 Apr 2011 18:13 |
been meaning to drop in herefor ages, a good move on a saturday lunchtime - as i guess the market porter around the corner was probably heaving, very impressed to find 3 dark beers on, ambience is very pleasant and cosy, minor grumble i found the ales a bit on the "chilly" side... but will definatetly drop by again.
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8 Real ales, nice large cellar pub, Really quite nice and on a Friday night not as packed as The Market Porter round the corner. Run by the Redcar Bere Company I believe who you can always rely on for a nice pint.
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Excellent range of ales at reasonable prices. They usually have a couple of stouts/porters on - and some decent lagers too. The food is decent, and similarly well-priced.
Seems to be a largely unpretentious crowd, mostly young, and a decent mix of genders. Clean, and spacious. They have TVs showing sport (SKY, no ESPN) but it doesn't dominate the place.
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Large basement pub with a range of ales to match. Good atmosphere, can get busy at times but well worth a visit.
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Been meaning to drop off a quick review on this one (well, as quick as my reviews ever get) for a while now.
The exterior is hardly laden with promise; cellar-based bars rarely are. However, similar to the Old Monk in Strutton Ground which promises little but yields a surprisingly appealing subterranean interior, the Wheatsheaf should not be dismissed for its unexceptional frontage. An opportunistic walk-in on 19 Nov following a do at Vinopolis and a hearty recommendation from a friend found the joint was jumping, and despite it being a somewhat dingey cavernous affair clearly orientated towards students, I did find myself enjoying it. The clientele were in fairness more mixed than expected, as was the beer selection - I can't quite understand how a range of up to 10 cask ales from a variety of breweries found their way to a bar of this ilk, but I for one am not complaining. The selection was splendid and I would make a return visit for this factor alone. It goes to show one should never judge a pub by its cover; at least not do so and always expect to be correct on further inspection.
I assume the outlet is paying homage to the old Wheatsheaf on Stoney Street, closed in Jan '09 and now decapitated to accommodate a new railway line. This place bears no resemblance to its illustrious forebear, but if it was a nod to what we'd lost round the corner, then it is a nice touch.
Clearly this lot are doing things right as business is brisk. I hope that continues.
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Went in here with a decent sized crowd the other week and really liked it. I didn't get any food but some of the people I was with did and it looked good and was well priced.
The bar staff were friendly and worked well providing quick service doling out pints of well served and well kept beer.
There are TVs showing sport but kept in one section which is big enough to fit a crowd but doesn't take over the whole pub.
Got to be said a highly recomended pub.
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Enjoyed a pint or three of Vixen yesterday. Excellent. A good range of ales on offer.
One critisism the all pervading smell from the loo's.
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Had a nice pint of Hop Back Taiphoon in here yesterday. My only complaint about the place is that finding somewhere to sit with clear view of a TV (the cricket was on) was impossible. All lines of sight were blocked by people standing around the bar NOT watching the TVs! Perhaps some repositioning might be a good idea.
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I really like this pub, even though it is a cellar bar. Nicely decorated and good staff, and very laid back atmosphere (when I have been there at least). The beer is very good, at least on par with the Market Porter round the corner.
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I didn't think I'd like this place - probably something to do with not liking the old Wheatsheaf very much - so I put off visiting it for a long time. I wish I hadn't put it off, the pub is fantastic. I think they have about 8 different ales available, fruit beer for the lady, and an inexplicable number of Mexican beers in bottle.
There's a lot of seating and it's pretty easy to eventually get a perch, even on a Friday night. They also have a dedicated area for darts - probably the best darting environment in the area.
They final positive (at least from my point of view) is they play A LOT of funk. I've visited about 6 or7 times now and every time they played more James Brown than WJBE radio. Shame they play it as background music though (the least appropriate volume for funk) - there's nothing that would make me happier than hearing some Bootsy basslines rattling off the cellar's ceiling.
This place is quickly becoming a regular haunt.
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Visited for the first time recently and I have to say, we were pretty impressed. There was a good atmosphere in there and the beer was certainly very drinkable. The prices were similar to pubs nearby. The cellar bar feel added was great. Liked it.
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There were a few steps down to to the Wheatsheaf and the ceiling gave it a cellar feel being painted brickwork. There were 10 pumps and we selected Nethergate Redcar Best Bitter and Tring Ducketts Delight at £3.15. The room layout was good and there were a couple of small rooms with just one big table in each. Food menu was impressive and reasonable. There was an area with a dartboard. Impressive clean and tidy pub.
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Some people appear to like to have a moan for the sake of it. Talk of a "baffling policy on showing football" being "frankly bizarre" and leaving "a poor taste in the mouth". Absolutely hilarious. Have you picked up the toys thrown out of the pram?
Perhaps a good thing to do would be to ask why. The staff are always friendly and polite and willing to help / explain. Might be be more mature to do that before posting something so 'dramatic'....
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Having visited the pub on last wednesday very early I can't say anything about the atmospehere because there were only about four or five people in the whole pub.
At 3,20 each I had two very good pints, one Burton Bridge Mild XL and one Whitstable Oyster stout.
Definitely worth a visit after a market tour.
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I am a regular at the Sheaf and can confirm that the no football on saturday policy is because of trouble. It may be Borough Market but is also Millwall's stomping ground. Only 2 weeks ago The Globe was trashed by football fans and all the windows smashed. Sat football is a real problem in the area as all travelling teams come in thru London Bridge.
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SE1 is the best area of London for good pubs in my opinion, with many great examples packed all within walking distance of each other. Just around the corner from Borough Market lies the newly relocated Wheatsheaf, a large cellar bar that was a welcome retreat from the cold outside. It has one large bar which permanently serves Youngs Special and Bitter, and an impressive array of guests which on my visit included ales from Red Car, Wolf, Elgood, Nethergate and other breweries. My pints of Red Car Best and Elgood Copper Feelgood were £3.10 and £3.20 respectively, about standard for the area although I would agree with some of the other reviewers that it was a little on the cold side.
I quite liked it here and would return, and it would certainly figure as part of an SE1 pub crawl but my only gripe would be there baffling policy on showing football. The pub has sky sports, but upon my asking whether they would mind switching it to the Everton v Manchester United game, I was told 'we don't show football on saturdays'. I don't quite understand this; are they worried about trouble? This is borough market for pity's sake, the only trouble you get round here is some scallywag being overcharged for his organic free range fair trade Fennel. Are they happy to show football the rest of the week? They seemed perfectly content to show golf and cricket, which obviously are less troublesome. Or maybe they rotate depending on the day? Frankly bizarre. And left a poor taste in the mouth really.
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Large vaulted cellar, just below street level near London Bridge station. The room is furnished with an odd mixture of plush sofas and canteen-style long tables and benches, which doesn't quite do enough to make this feel more 'pub' than 'wine-bar'.
However, it is the beer selection which is the real draw. There were a couple of pumps dispensing Young's Ordinary and Special, but an additional eight or nine guests all listed on a blackboard near the entrance. I tried the Vale Hadda's Winter Solstice (£3.20) which was wonderful reward after a long trudge through the snow.
The staff were efficient and very friendly and a crowd steadily started to build from around 5pm onwards which created a nice vibe. I was somewhat reluctant to step back out into the cold, but I am fairly sure this won't be my last visit.
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I usually find cellar bars to be a bit depressing, but this place has been done out well and you soon forget that you are below street level. There is a large ale selection along with some standard and premium draught products and I found the staff to be friendly and I was served promptly even though the place was heaving with local office staff on their Christmas parties.
Sky Sports is shown and I spotted two plasma screens along with a dartboard that is in an alcove to the left of the entrance. The music was a little loud for my liking, but it was Christmas party night so it was to be expected.
This place is certainly worth a look if in the London Bridge area.
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Love it here, lots more room than the old Sheaf, better selection of beers but same old faces behind the bar. smashing
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Large cellar. Quite bright and clean. Good buzz in the place. Lots of cask ales on offer (though difficult to see them all as they are arranged in three different places, and though there is a blackboard, it's not kept up to date). Worth adding to a crawl. Gets a 7 for beer quality and range, space, ambiance and atmosphere.
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I quite liked the old Wheatsheaf, but this place is vastly better.
Spacious, with a real mix in terms of clientele, and an excellent range of very well kept beers. It even seemed to have a TV with sky sports as well; generally speaking most pubs with sport on TV veer towards the average or worse, but this place was great, and is a real find for general drinking and for watching matches. A gem as stated.
mps77 - 17 Nov 2009 15:46 |
One thing I like about this place is the way it combines pub and bar. The underground feel and the pillars make it feel bar like, but the beer and atmosphere is closer to a pub. Means it's great for mixing friends who don't all love pubs as much as I do.
Staff also seem particularly good for London- friendly and cheerful and able to laugh. And the food isn't bad. It is a bit loud at times, especially when full, but aside from that a bit of a gem.
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Popped in to the new Wheatsheaf for the first time last night. It's very different to the old one - so much bigger. The beer selection is great, food looks and smells good. There's a good lively crowd of people.
My only criticism is that it's so noisy with the sounds of music and conversation reverberating around the cellar. Perhaps it's just my ears
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Visited yesterday for the first time and left with rather mixed impressions. I like the pub itself although the layout is rather odd and I'm certainly not a lover of low sofas in pubs! 9 beers on and I tried 2 - both too cold, flat and dead. Not many customers in at 4pm on a Monday but I guess that it's probably busy later on. Will try it again when in the area and I can only hope that the beer quality is better or I wouldn't go a third time.
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I love this place. Danny and the team run a great pub, and the interior is absolutely fantastic.
The upgraded menu is top stuff for not as much as it might be, good wine list and whilst some of the beers are a little cold, they seem to be well kept.
My only issue is over the guinness - it seems to have been a little thin since the new place opened. Don't know if I'm the only person who drinks it, and don't know what the fix is - although it could be something is up with the gas system.
Simple solution for me though - switch to light and bitter. Danny's even got the staff trained how to pour the "greedy man's pint" properly.
Please keep up the great work guys - even better if you can fix the black stuff.
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"The Wheatsheaf" moved out of Stoney Strret due to widening of the railway bridge and is now just around the corner in Southwark Street, in the cellar bar under the Hop Exchange.
The many professional photos of staff and regulars taken to commemorate the old Wheatsheaf building now hang on the newly renovated and decorated walls.
As well as the keeping the same management and staff, most of the regulars from the local offices and Borough Market have stayed faithful. The warm and friendly Wheatsheaf atmosphere is still there.
The extra space in the new premises means a lot more seating - always a problem in the old Wheatsheaf - and there is a constantly changing range of real ales on offer as guest beers
The food menu has a wide selection with ecellent quality - and it's a very hungry person who can finish an entire bowl of Wheatsheaf Chips!
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Although a "cellar bar" it is only a couple of steps down from pavement level and the doors are left open at least in summer so not claustrophobic and quite light inside.
Plentiful seating with sofas and dining booths/rooms.
Good selection of respectable beers and lagers including a rather nice porter sampled last weekend - though not sure how well the Guinness was kept.
They've been hosting free jazz it seems once a month or so which was nice, see Jazz in London for any upcoming events.
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Pleasant barstaff and a decent selection of beers in this cellar bar.. It has the feel of being there for years although it has only opened in the last few months. Maybe it's sacrilege to say this but I like it better than the old Wheatsheaf.
chick - 28 Jun 2009 16:27 |
Now that the place has started to bed down, I think it's looking really good. Obviously on a hot weekend sunday in the summer, there will be an element of a struggle as the sun seekers will be heading outside. Personally, I hate the sun! So this downstairs pub is perfect!
I think the beers selection is good and varied, staff are always polite and a good laugh, the food is markedly different and improved from the old pub. Still very good for sport, with some good sessions around the rugby and cricket recently.
Might not have the real ale history of the Porter, but the Porter, for all it's excellence on the beer front, has always remained a bit soulless since the year they knocked the back through. The Wheatsheaf, on it's day/night, has the best atmosphere of any pub in the area.
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Brighter and more open than most basement bars, benefitting from a fairly restrained used of dark timber when compared with the likes of Davy's, etc. Busy, but not crowded, as I had missed the early evening rush, with a very good choice of real ales on the beer menu blackboard. Had a reasonable pint of darkish Quercus something-or-other (sorry, I've forgotten what exactly), but I agree with others about the serving temperature.
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Great to have it back - broader range of beers was great and the food we had was very nice. Like the new location and feel of the place.
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Wow, what a change. I used to go in the old Wheatsheaf and this is completely different but it's great to see the same faces behind the bar. I had the Red Car and temp was fine. Teething troubles?
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Not too sure I like the windowless feel, and low vaulted ceilings, as it feels a bit claustrophobic when busy. The exposed brick walls are covered in black and white portrait photos, someone suggests these are former regulars of the old Wheatsheaf? If so there are one hell of a lot of them!
A mix of seating from sofas to ordinary chairs and tables plus bar stools. A very strange room at the back with a dining table and a selection of chairs reminded me of some kind of boardroom. A front alcove houses a dartboard.
Now for the beer, a decent range, Youngs Ord and Special, Red Car IPA badged as Return of the Sheaf, Red Car Best Bitter, St George's Charger, Thwaites Original, Elgoods Double Swan, Black Hole Super Nova, Nethergate Umbel Ale, however they are, as said by others, served at a temperature befitting a lager. There really is no point having decent ale on if it is too chilled to taste properly. Perhaps the cellar is cold, who knows but this really does need sorting out. Oh, and lose the tea light candles on the tables too please.
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As people will know by now, the "new" Wheatsheaf is here at Southwark Street.
It advertises itself outside as a "Pub and Chop House" , but on my early evening visit yesterday, it was drinkers only.
It's a large room below street level, down a few stairs, and very strongly resembles a Davy's.
It's quite roomy inside with a mix of sofas and tables with candles.
There's a corner with a dartboard and several alcoves. It's nice to see that the photos of the regulars from the old Wheatsheaf have been moved across.
There's a wider range of real ales than at the old Wheatsheaf. 2 banks of 4 pumps were serving Bombardier, Youngs Special, Hook Norton 303, York Constantine and Red Car Best amongst others.
Like Trainman, I felt the beer was served too cold.
My pint of Red Car Best ( £3) was so chilled as to be virtually tasteless, although a subsequent pint of York Constantine was better.
I'll probably revisit in 6 months or so when the place has bedded down, but I'm not wildly enthusiastic about the place at the moment
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Great to see Danny & Pheobe back in the new venue with the same vibe as the old one. A lot of lost souls around borough market have found a new home!
The new venue provides a better space than the last with couches, well placed TVs and a seperate dart rooms. Wide beer and wine selection with yummy real ales on tap.
Fans of the old 'sheaf will love the new one...
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Large central room with plenty of space on a couple of long tables. Couple of cellar rooms. Dart board and TV in a convenient location. Bar itself I thought was a bit too large. Plenty of beer (8 I think) on offer. Stuck to the reasonable Young’s ordinary whilst I was there. Not cheap, but the Sheaf never was to be fair.
Atmosphere on Friday night was excellent, and it was good to see Danny and the gang again, and you get the feeling it will only get better as it beds in.
mrse1 - 20 Apr 2009 11:16 |
York Guzzler & York Terrier, RedCar Best & IPA (latter badged as "Return of the 'Sheaf"), Youngs Ord & Special, Bombardier, Nethergate Augustinian, Milton Dionysus, Addlestones cider. Decent size, but not a great layout, especially the positioning of the long refectory tables beyond the bar which create a blocked rat-run to/from the individual vaulted rooms (x2) at the far end. Good to see a dartboard with its own space, not so good that a section is taken up with a square sofa/low table arrangement. Most importantly, though, the beer was very disappointing - served way too cold, therefore devoid of most of its flavour, some with a chill-haze, and a new trio record was set at £9.80 for 3 pints! Bombardier (for the less adventurous) seemed to the the dearest? Overall, I doubt I'll be back in a hurry.
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Looked in Sat lunchtime - down the steps into vaulted room, big bar, beers as TMJ lists - Youngs Spec good. Bit too bright down here perhaps - bit of London gloom would be my call. Sofa area, dart board in its own vault. Most of the drinking trade going to the Southwark on the corner being a sunny day, so quietish. Good for evenings once it gets going I guess
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Opened yesterday under the old Wheatsheaf management [Danny]. Ten pumps dispensing the usual Wells/Youngs products plus RedCar and other guests. Loads of space, has screen, also dartboard. Didn't notice a smoking area, most smokers were lurking in the street outside. Warning, stairs down to bar deadly for old gits!!
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