Acceptable or even GOOD pubs in London city centre?

Won't be eating

Might be a bit warm this time of year though.

It has a fairly large garden.

Compton Arms was nice, but small and nearly empty (only about 5 customers). Alwyne Castle was good.

"Small and nearly empty" is probably my ideal pub scenario.

I ended up in the Spurstowe Arms on Saturday night, fucking hate that place, full of the particular joylessness I associate with overcrowded gentrified Hackney hellholes. We'd relocated from the Baring, further up the canal towards Islington, which was so much better on almost every level.

The one good thing about Hackney on a Saturday night is that it acts as such a magnet for people, that it's making pubs in some other parts of Central London more bearable than they used to be at the weekend.

are there ANY good pubs near elephant & castle?

How near to Elephant do you need to be? There are decent pubs towards the bottom of Borough High Street (Royal Oak, Lord Clyde, Kings Arms, the Trinity on a quiet night). On the Lambeth North side the Albert Arms is pretty good. I've heard the Prince of Wales is decent if old-school as well, the presence of England flags has always put me off a bit.

pre-corsica drinks - just wondering if there's an alternative to the usual trek from borough to e&c

albert arms seems like the best shout. england flags are a dealbreaker, yes

Yeah that'll be fine for your purposes, a mix of South Bank students and locals probably.

The Albert was OK the one time I went in there years ago. I've a feeling that there might be a decent pub or two just on the other side of the Imperial War Museum, but I've never really hung around there. There are a couple of OK places on Blackfriars Road (The Ring opposite Southwark tube is alright but not as good as it once was, ah dear dead days etc etc).

the presence of England flags has always put me off a bit.

ngl, speechlessly angry at this lack of respect

Yeah, Albert Arms is/was fine (not great) - never really had a night there but I'd stop in if I was breaking a journey at Elephant.

The Ring is pretty overcrowded and grim on a Friday night although it probably thins out later on.

Oh yeah I net it is. Wasn't like that in the good old days! Explains why it changed, I suppose. :(

The Roebuck maybe? One of the closest of the polished Borough/Bermondsey pubs if you've got the right route.

OTM On The Ring. I used to like a drink there, now it feels a bit grim/toss, I don't want a fancy hot dog I want a drink.

The upside of the trek from Borough is that some of the pubs there close later and really who wants to go to Corsica at 11.15?

Hm. Anyone been to the bar in the Southwark Playhouse? Even though obviously all theatre bars are strange or worse, it sounds like it might be ok.

I haven't. I used to go to the Stage Door now and again, that could have been worse. God, it's slim pickings around there, isn't it?

I was sort of fond of the Stage Door - really dull, like no real distinguishing features, but good for a drink after work – much easier to get a seat than most Waterloo-ish pubs (King's Arms, White Hart).
(I think it's had a makeover tho'. )

The Stage Door has had a very halfhearted makeover (ie some Scandinavian-style cladding around the fireplace) but it's still comfortable enough if you can get a table. I'm a bit wary of going in there in case I'm confronted with terrible covers bands.

The whole Waterloo area is terrible for pubs really.

Stage door opens until either 12 or 1 on a Friday as well, I'm sure.

re: Waterloo pubs, went a few times to that pub in Roupell street but last time was a few years ago after a recital so can't recall what it was like.

I quite liked the Three Stags across from the Imperial War Museum when we were staying down near there a couple of years ago for a long weekend. Maybe a bit too far away though?

I ended up in the Spurstowe Arms on Saturday night, fucking hate that place, full of the particular joylessness I associate with overcrowded gentrified Hackney hellholes. We'd relocated from the Baring, further up the canal towards Islington, which was so much better on almost every level.

saw this post from mdc last year - lol - fucking hate the spurstowe. that and the scolt head are two of the shittest pubs i've had to darken the door of.

there's a good pub down that lane between whittlesea street and the cut, i can't remember what it's called though.

I used to love the King's Arms (xyzzz's Roupell St one & maybe the one you're thinking of lg?) - almost the perfect pub when it's a bit quieter. Found it too crowded for an early evening drink when I was working round there, though.

xpost

I think LG and xyzz are both talking about the King's Head, as mentioned upthread. It's nice when it's not totally rammed. It sits on the route taken by a lot of the lawyer / accountant types who work around Blackfriars and commute to SW London or Surrey, and they tend to fill the place in the early evenings.

Yeah The King's Arms, most of the time I'd go it would be quiet.

The King's Arsm is very good but also suffers from the Waterloo commuter curse on a Friday. Lovely on a leisurely Saturday though.

If there's another good place down there then I don't know about it and it is relevant to my immediate interests (ie in the next six hours or so).

I am very pro-the Charles Dickens on Union Street as well, one of those pubs that just feels like it shouldn't exist in zone one but you're glad it does.

It's not the King's Arms, I mean, is there both a King's Head and a King's Arms around there? The one I mean is a really pokey little place with maybe panelled glass windows, it's down the lane to the right as you walk down the Cut away from Anchor and Hope etc.

King's Arms is the one actually on the Cut itself, right?

xps
right - it's saturday afternoon drinking there that I remember very fondly.

wait no, maybe it is the king's arms, and i'm mixing them both up with the windmill tavern

which isn't v good

the Hole in the Wall, under the Arches immediately outside the station is acceptable for a quick pint before going elsewhere

The Windmill is the one on the Cut and that is usually terrible. The King's Arms is the one down the lane, on the corner with Roupell Street, traditional boozer at the front with a huge room out the back with long tables and Thai food.

Charles Dickens - yes! That's a fine & honest pub. Had good evenings out there & beatific Saturday afternoon solitaries.

& Neil S otm, Hole in the Wall is (maybe surprisingly?) ok - really distinctive character - dark, shaken by trains, rough and cosy front room. A bit beaten-up.

yeah the trains passing overhead is a real feature, and they have a good selection of well kept real ales if that's your thing

imo fwiw The King's Arms seems to behave oddly if you're not used to the streets - looks different from different angles, not obvious to find, can turn up surprisingly if you're just passing through. I drank there before I moved to London and would struggle to find it when I was visiting and around Waterloo.
(+ there's something tardisy about the back room with the food)

A few years back I found a good pub a bit south (I think) of the Cut - like a horseshoe shaped bar, quite oldstyle, had some decent beers. Was on a corner. Can't find it on maps now.

quite liked seeing this poll getting played:
http://londonist.com/2015/02/the-best-pubs-in-borough-and-southwark.php

xp
could be the stage door? I'd never noticed the beers.

southwark playhouse bar's fine but kind of like a cafe or waiting room

Stage door sounds right, has horseshoe bar, otter beers (last time I went which was a while ago). Decor has been updated, iirc they have a vw beetle coming out of a wall. I don't go there so often as its v popular and noisy on weekend nights and I'm an old fuddy-duddy now.

Oh look I missed a whole discussion about MY MANOR. Yeah it is slim pickings, Kings arms would be great if it weren't always so crowded. White Hart nearby is ok, decent beer, one of those invisible chain pubs that tries to be individual but the menu gives it away. Also crowded. Anchor and Hope, well you can't beat it for food and I like the atmos. But crowded.

If we're allowed bars/restaurants, Baltic does great vodka, cocktails, Polish food (that you can eat at the bar). Not crowded. Not cheap.

Near E&C, down the backstreets down south the beehive was pretty good. Ten years ago anyway.

Gladstone Arms..went there once, i think it was good from what I remember

It was summer and we sat outside, although the number of trees was low in that area of london, the trees that were there had many leaves.