Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 48 and Version 47 of Bear, SE5 0RP

Gastropub in Camberwell, on Camberwell New Road. It closed for 4 months and reopened on 21 April 2016, under new management as a 'Craft Beer Pub'. secretlondon has visited a couple of times since it re-opened, and I think all the reviews below should be taken as historical as it's a different pub.

It still has two rooms with painted brickwork (photo). I didn't see if there was a beer garden and there are a small number of tables on the pavement. It has four handpumps and 16 kegs (list of beers May 16). They had one draft lager by Brewdog and one cask and one keg cider on my visit. Cask beer was £4 ish a pint, and keg between £4.50 and £6.

They do food but as before it's quite upmarket and expensive. Mains start at about £10 (a menu, brunch at weekends).

One one visit on a weekday evening it was quite quiet. I had a few beers and it was quite pleasant. I came back on Saturday early evening (7 ish) and it unpleasantly noisy. Lots of loud groups, banging on the tables and raucous laughter. A young middle class crowd (almost?) entirely white. It was quieter in the back bar but it was filling up and getting noisier.

There was a table full of board games but it didn't look like anyone was playing them. They don't do pub quizzes any more and seem to have one off live music.

The selection of beer is good. The clientele on Saturday night were too much for me but it's probably fine during the week.

Last visited by secretlondon, May 2016.

Under previous ownership:

It's quite large inside, with two separate rooms. Decor is dark wood, polished floorboards, wooden chairs and tables, long banquette along one wall and four rather distinctive modern chrome handpumps. Windows are unfrosted and of reasonable size, so it's quite light towards the front. There's a small beer garden out the back.

On AndrewB's August 2007 visit, shortly after its relaunch as a freehouse, he learned that they plan to rotate both the food menu and the beer range, and to support independent brewers and offer unusual and hard-to-find ales. This policy has certainly been maintained over the years; the ales change regularly and are all well-kept, and have included Skinners Cornish Knocker, Cotleigh Golden Seahawk, Rudgate Ruby Mild (£1.65/half in August 2008), Great Crested Newt (£3.30/pint in October 2008), and Red Squirrel Conservation (£2.95/pint in September 2010). The staff are always happy to offer small taster glasses if you're not sure what you want.

Draught lagers on offer during Ewan's September 2008 visit were Budvar, Leffe, Red Stripe, Peroni and a couple of others, and there was also Stowford Press cider. There's quite a lengthy wine list, and from the evidence of the house red, good quality as well.

When Kake visited on a Friday evening in August 2008, the place was almost empty when I arrived at 6pm, and it remained so when I left half an hour later. Service was very friendly, and the young chap behind the bar was eager to make sure I knew about their beer festival offer. It wasn't too empty on Ewan's visit around 9pm on a Thursday in September 2008, as there were only two or three free tables, but it was far from unpleasantly crowded. When secretlondon visited on a Tuesday night in October 2008, all the tables were taken, so I couldn't get any food. When Kake and others visited again on a Saturday afternoon/evening in September 2008, only a few of the tables were taken, and the ambience was fairly peaceful until a fairly chatty group arrived a bit later in the evening; this showed up the problem with the rather echoey decor, with the hard surfaces amplifying their (perfectly reasonably pitched) conversation to the point where the bar staff first turned the music right down and then came around to apologise for the noise.

As of September 2010, food is served noon-3pm and 6pm-10pm Tuesday to Saturday and noon-4pm Sunday (no food on Mondays). In September 2008, Ewan tried the Jerusalem artichoke, potato, spinach and cheese 'pie', served in a substantial sized Le Creuset dish, with a layer of shortcrust pastry on top photo. It was served extremely hot, straight from the oven, and was also extremely tasty, and though a fairly pricy £10, was worth it. Sides are sold separately for £3 each (French beans, mixed salad, new potato, carrots and the like). Although only I was eating a main, they brought an extra plate and some spoons in case I wanted to share it with my companion. On a visit in April 2009, a Jerusalem artichoke gratin (£10) was also tasty, though some of the potatoes were rather undercooked. For dessert, the chocolate fondant and ice cream dessert (£4.50) was also quite tasty. Service is always very pleasant.

Accessibility: A step up at the entrance, but level access to the bar, seating areas, and toilets once you're in, also to at least part of the beer garden.

See also:

• Beer In The Evening comments
• Fancyapint review
• London Eating comments
• Squeal Piggy review
• Time Out review
• Trusted Places comments
• Gay Camberwell review
• Tehbus' review
• Southwark News review
• Grumbling Gourmet review
• ViewLondon review
• Kake's photos of the menu board outside as of August 2008: 1, 2

Powered by OpenGuides 0.83mod.
Site design adapted from the Creative Commons Licensed “Naturalist” by Darren Hester.

The textual content of this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 licence.