The Jolly Farmers (ex jordan), Lewisham

I've been coming to this pub for many years, through its various changes in managers and even names. Overall, it's a good place for people who prefer pubs to be places you can talk in, and where the staff know who you are after just a couple of visits. Having said that, it struggles a bit, in the British way, with the fact it's brewery-owned, which means the management are never really going to benefit greatly, at least not directly, from any improvements they make. The main bug-bear I have with it is its recent tendency to have the radio playing constantly (often at the same time as the TV). They used to play CDs, which is fine but, presumably because that means regular trips downstairs to change them, the staff now prefer to leave the radio on. Worse still, it's always some crap commercial station where you're forced to listen to half-wit DJs babbling on about, well, themselves mostly.

3 Mar 2011 13:13

The Ladywell Tavern, Ladywell

Something you need to know about 'The Best Pub in Lewisham' is that it'll close early if it doesn't think there's enough people present. This has happened to me a few times now, and I'm not even a regular.

The other Monday night, I arrive at 9.45 and buy a pint. I'm due to meet a friend here just after 10.30. I sit at a table and suddenly I'm breathing in heavy gusts of polish fumes because the barman has decided to clear and clean the tables no one's sitting at and get ready for closing up. Then, at 9.55, last orders is called! There are about a dozen people in the pub at the time. So I finish my pint fast and order another. While he's pulling it, I ask what time they're closing and he says about 10.20. I ask why and he says he's 'been told to', apparently, because there aren't enough people present. I say I have a friend due to meet me at 10.30 here and he just looks at me as if I've suggested kipping on his floor for the night. Sure enough, we're all thrown out at 10.20 and my friend arrives later to find a locked up pub.

This is British service in a nutshell. The place prides itself on being the best pub in town yet it'll happily take over �7 of your money to make you race down two pints, while filling your lungs with polish fumes and throwing you out an hour before it's supposed to. What it should do of course is put posters up that make it clear you'll be told to leave early if there are less than X number of patrons in the place and/or they're buying expensive enough drinks to make it worth their while. But that wouldn't exactly enhance the (phoney) ambience, would it?

1 Mar 2011 12:19