If food is your thing then look no further, you pay a premium price for fantastic food, the real ales are not to shabby with Harvey's on at all times. A great atmosphere and super friendly service.If only I could be bothered to walk here more often 10/10.The Glamorgan is my favourite Croydon pub. In my opinion it has the nicest interior, the best food, the best pint of Harveys and very good service.

I visit EVERY Friday for a fantastic lunch, passing five other pubs to get there. I haven't visited in the evening for a long time but only because I live far, far away.

The price is at the higher end of the scale but I believe it is worth every penny.
I hasten to add that I am in no way associated with this pub and my opinion is totally unbiased.

P.S. Boo-Hiss to 'Croydoner'(18 Jun) for making unnecessary, irrelevant and personally insulting remarks about the Landlady. You will not be missed with an attidude like that.Croydoner, I agree to some extent that the food isn't as exciting or as high quality as when they started out, but there is no need for personal attacks e.g. paragraph 2.

Nipped in here yesterday on a bit of a tour round the area. It's a nice enough pub but I nearly walked past as I thought it was an Indian restaurant! I would like to go back in the evening to see if they put any more beer on as the choice wasn't brilliant. The beer I had was a bit warm and veering towards sour. Just on the turn but the bar was very quiet and I suppose if there's not a high turnover that's what happens. I guess having frequented the Wenlock for the past few weeks you get spoilt with the high turnover of beers. The " only" special thing about the Claret is the wide variety of Real Ales they sell every month, it is about one a day. Six ales available at any time, if you stay here two or three hours probably a pump will change. Oh ! I nearly forgot, also four ciders at all times.Real Cider is VERY hard to find in Croydon.Looks and feels like it used to be a restaurant. Nice and handy for the tram. There was a bit of overkill on Palmers beers which I'm not wild about. I had a fairly average pint. After reading the reviews I was a bit disappointed. Nice enough beer and pub but nothing special about it.

I Agree with the previous comments regarding the good range of beers, friendly service, etc. Just to add that they have live music upstairs, and although the small bar there wasn't manned when I went, there is another set of toilets at the rear - great news for those who can't manage the trek to the loos in the vault! Northlondon, the drawback here is the toilets ,I believe they are so subteranean that they are on a tube line somewhere, I have now perfected my water retaining abilities to the standard of a camel. People do look astonished as I rush into the Dog and Bull screaming "Gangway !". Sadly the other issue is the lack of a garden, in Summer this is a much needed facility.The beer is usually good and the fried breakfast is cheap and plentiful.Great ales & staff, really good service & on the ball as far as keeping any undesirables out. Makes for a nice atmosphere, shame no garden & the toilets are in the old bank vault so don't hold on til the last minute! Pub award well deserved, a must 4 anyone in Croydon!

GOOD CHOICE OF ALES BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY HAD A GOOD DAY WELL DONE TO THE NEW MANAGER Only one ale available from the 'guest' bank today; Westerham BB was in good shape, but four other pumps clipped as 'available soon'? come on! Disappointing.SLERPY WHAT ARE U TALKING ABOUT I STOPPED USING THE SKYLARK BECAUSE THE ALES WERE BAD AND STARTED GOING TO THE GEORGE NOW THE MANAGERS HAVE MOVED AROUND I AM BACK AT THE SKYLARK AND THE ALES ARE GREAT ALES AT THE MOMENT 10/10 DID YOU GET A FREE PINT FOR YOUR COMMENTS

Frank ( the guvnor ) has retired, a very hard act to follow, I actually thought that I would leave Croydon before him , it will be another eighteen months before I move to the seaside ( can't wait ).10/10 for now.Only 9/10 because nothing's perfect, but this is without doubt the best pub in Croydon. Admittedly, there's not much competition but it's very good in it's own right.

This is a proper pub, the emphasis is on beer, it does not allow children (other than in the garden) and since some heath and safety pillock stopped them from serving food because they don't have a dumb waiter, they only do bar snacks.

The bar staff are the most professional I have come across, take a bow Dave, and the beer is always well kept. Young’s Special can be a bit flaky in some pubs but I’ve never had a bad one here.

I only have one query though, since Young's and Wells merged, they serve Bombardier but it looks and tastes just like Young's ordinary. Have the pipes been attached to the wrong barrel I wonder? But I don't really care, while I like Charles Wells beers, give me Young's any day.
On a hot day the wonderful Garden is the only sensible pub to drink in. Stteped in history this has been a justifiable long term entry in the GBG.

A nice backstreet boozer. Very friendly staff and customers and the beer(Fullers) is always top notch. The rooms are lived in - which I like in a pub myself - but clean and comfy with nice niches in the back bar. Definately worth a bit of a walk of the main drag. Summer is awkward in central Croydon to few pubs have a nice garden, the garden here is a wee bit small but beats sweltering in one of the bank conversions nearer to the centre. Be warned the prices here are on the dear side, but as you are probably aware Fuller's are synonymous with dear beer.8/10Decent range of Fuellers on tap, not a bad place
The inside could do with smartening up.

There is a small garden section across the way, and they were doing a barbeque. Nice touch there

Large local pub whose landlord apparently drinks lager but realises the importance of a wide client base (and I'm not referring to their waistlines!) so puts on several ales as well. Moorhouse Pride of Pendle last night as well as Dark Star Hophead.Big old open-plan pub with very high ceilings. The front bar area is a bit like drinking in a huge barn but there is a tucked away area around the side of the pub. Six ales including Harveys, Dark Star & Lodden. Sadly the quality was a let-down for a current camra pub of the year, the Ferrymans Gold was tired & the Hophead had turned & was undrinkable. The prices are incredibly cheap for both food & post-budget drinks. I hope we caught the beer on a bad day & would like to give it another go on a "meet the brewer" evening if more are planned.This pub iritates me due to the constant need to ask for a top up , after the third request my pint is at least 8% less than a full pint.

I am not a fan of the beer range here,i often visit Mayday but use the Victoria Cross instead. though if you like Hepworth's look no further !Top marks to The Lion for both beer and service. They refused to sell me a roll which was a day old and made a fresh one, which was delicious. The Hepworth's ale was so good I stayed longer than intended to have one more.Don't let a down at heel shabby appearance put you off. Yesterday they had Master Brew and three Hepworth beers: Sussex, Iron Horse and Old Ale. Kent's Best and Spitfire were on the board but not available. They also had a few bottles including Owd Rodger. The TV we were watching the rugby on wasn't tuned in properly but this is well worth a visit. Shame that on a Saturday night there were so few punters.

Really friendly service considering how busy they are.A tad expensive with a tiny bit of pavement seating,outside drinking in Summer is worth paying a small premium for in Central Croydon.ESB in this condition is a favourite of mine. 9/10 This is easily the best pub in Croydon. The quality and range of beers is excellent. The staff are good and so is the food. Quality boozer with very good beers. Food looks very tastey but never bought any, except the "cracklin"!

Staff are quite pleasant, most of the time.

Also lots of bods from Home Office etc., can be seen relaxing in here.

This place is a breath of fresh air in croydon and looks amazing inside, service is good as they offer table service during the week (its too full/loud for this on the weekend) so you dont have to leave your seat to get more drinks and before you know it youve been there all night.

As for the looks cheap comments below id pay no attention as the case seems to be the exact opposite -The wallpaper alone looks as if it cost a bomb!

Overall a real asset to the area.

wysiwyg,

I have indeed visited the bar (between 6 and 8) and that was the price i paid. Trust me, I remember clearly. I even pointed out to a member of staff that the price was ridiculous who agreed stating that this was what he would normally drink and he had actually spoken to the manager about the excessive price.

Perhaps they have lowered their price since my visit. Went there recently with the wife on a saturday lunchtime. Can't remember the price of the drinks but food was not worth it. I had a beef steak sandwich with just half a dozen chips. Waitress was friendly and helpful but would not recommend coming here to eat. It looks like the owners done up the place on the cheap. Tables look secondhand with alot of deep knife marks and scratches. Needs better management and deco.

This is a bit of a hidden treasure and the beer garden is like a little magiacal well kept secret, and wonderful on a sunny afternoon as it is a proper sun trap but they DO have shade for those who need it. £5.60 for two smirnoff and coke? I WILL be here regularly this summer! Enjoyable visit, cosy place with a great beer garden that was packed during my sunny Sat visit. There was a BBQ in motion, but was exclusive of a private party, which was a shame as it smelt good. Still at least the garden didnt get shut off for it...

Stuff are fairly prompt. Small range of ales but the one I had was really niceA good locals' pub with an excellent live music programme. The beer quality, whilst generally OK, does drop from time to time particularly during warm weather.

Magnificent Thai food. The best pub quiz in Croydon. Good bar atmosphere at weekends. Recommended if you are on a big night out.Amos,

Sorry, but I have to agree with Darragh! I am new to the area and went to this establishment last weekend! I had started in the pub (or is it a bar - not being in "the trade" I could be tongue lashed for not knowing!) opposite Bar R and it was lovely, although packed, hence I popped over to Bar R. I have to admit that the staff are not that good - if they were any more horizontal they would fall down! As for the hand dryer - its not so much that, its the fact that the toilets just aren't nice! I know it stinks of judging a book by its cover, but it always turns me against an establishment if the toilets aren't clean and nice - makes me wonder what else is not being looked after!

Its a shame that you are not taking the constructive criticism seriously, but rather personally - this is what this site is for after all, to offer truthful feedback! Don't bring it down to personal insults - calling someone anal or gay is quite offensive and not at all constructive....Re: Darragh

A joke of a pub? That's because it's a bar...do you know the difference?

No management in sight? Open your eyes. One of the Thai kitchen staff (hints of racism, perhaps?) is a manager and, on the authority of the Police and Council, is a licence holder. I apologise if that doesn't suit your needs.

I'm sorry the hand-dryer wasn't working for you. Did you press the button? (think Zanussi).

On reading your comment I'm not describing you as anal, but on the expectation of visiting a bar, the first thing that comes to my mind is not wether the hand dryer will be working.....do you not think food/drink?

Regarding lack of atmosphere, by the tone of all your comments on this site I think it's a case of ''people in glass houses.....'' and maybe you should stick to Wetherspoons.

RSVP

I'd echo redjim's comments. It's a great place if you love rock music (which I do) and like it loud. The beer is OK, but not brilliant. The DJ will play requests if you ask them nicely!
Never had a decent pint of real ale from this pub, best to stick to Guinness.
THE place to go if you are into rock and metal, great loud music in the evenings, occasional live stuff. If you want decent real ale or a quiet sit down I suggest you look elsewhere, but this is a great pub for music and mixing with exotic goth types.This place was once a great place to eat and drink but it's now gone a bit downhill. They pour their ales back into the barrell from the drip trays, don't drink the cheapest ale as you might not like the tummy trots you get the next day!

Shame as it was once a great pub.

Music wise though it's ok but you can hear the live bands half way down the street so bring ears plugs.

The toilets are GRIM!

I was flabbergasted I have lived near this pub since 2001 and assumed it was a coughing old man's pub but I was persuaded to sit in the beer garden during our recent (brief) mini heatwave and I enjoyed the afternoon SO much!! I thought the inside bar smelt of wee a little bit but I will definitely be back to the beer garden in the better weather. The wine was not too shabby nor was it pricey, v.pleasant! We had just had lunch somewhere else but I perused their menu and WILL be tempted to go there for lunch this summer.Impressive garden that was a joy to seat even after the sun went down

Nice range of tab, great machines to play on, a joyous pop-in visitHighly under rated , the beer is very good and the service speedy.

Oh dear. Visited again today. The place was totally empty. In the past it would have been buzzing on a Friday mid afternoon. Landlord unwelcoming and unmoved by the fact that his dog was irritating my wife and I. Why do some dog owners feel it is acceptable to inflict their animals on others?

One customer came in, looked like a Camra member, while we were there and like me had the Old Hooky which was flat. Looks like the Punch Tavern multi millionaires are looking to run this down for closure like so many others. speaking as a regular about 4 yrs ago i can only comment regarding my time drinking there, the pub was known as the glue pot as once inside you would get stuck inside (if you know what i mean) the old landlord tony was a card! but now in new hands um not sure on the beer quality as it used to be superb. This superb pub used to be privately owned by a proper discerning old fashioned landlord until about 3 years ago. He had a zero tolerance level on swearing and dickheads. Bearing in mind the dearth of pubs in Croydon this was a real oasis, a country type pub in the back streets of West Croydon. A gem indeed.

Then it was bought by Punch Taverns I believe. Since then I understand there's been a succession of licensees who have vainly attempted to maintain standards with limited success.

I returned on a weekday lunchtime and was the one and only customer, bearing in mind that it always used to be very busy. To my delight they had Old Hooky on which was acceptable and a proper ham sandwich, rarely available these days. So maybe it's on the up despite the fact that it would be impossible to restore it to it's former glory.