Picture of Zeitgeist At The Jolly Gardeners, SE11 6AB

Historical version 1 of Zeitgeist At The Jolly Gardeners, SE11 6AB (view current version)

A German pub in Lambeth, not too far from Vauxhall Station.

The owners have taken what was a Victorian pub trading under the name The Jolly Gardeners, and gutted the inside, leaving the bar in the middle, and installing banquettes around the edge of the space on one side of the bar, and long tables on the other side. It's an open, airy space with a predominantly black decor, punctuated by subdued signs of its Germanic themes.

Where the German influence becomes clearest is in the beer list. As of October 2008, the website lists the following on draught: Bitburger, DAB, Flensburger 4, Gaffel Koelsch, Koenig Pilsener, Koestritzer, Krombacher, Paulaner Weizen, Paulaner Lager, Veltins, Warsteiner, Weihenstephan Dunkel and Weihenstephan Hell. They also have a large selection of bottled beers, and over a weekend in October hosted an Oktoberfest with an additional 25-30 (unfiltered) draught beers available at £3.70 for a half-litre.

Food is served noon-10pm Monday to Saturday, and 10:30am-9pm Sunday, and is of course heavily Teutonic. There are still a number of vegetarian options, and Ewan's Bavarian soft cheese with bread (£3.50) came quickly and was very tasty.

Sport is also a large part of this pub's existence, and football matches (including German games) are shown prominently on a large screen. The pub got significantly more busy and noisy during the evening, as people came to watch sport. However, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, it remains a pleasant place to try some interesting beers.

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Last visited by Ewan, Kake and Jo, 11 October 2008. Opening hours and food times taken from Time Out website, October 2008.
OS X co-ord: 530704 OS Y co-ord: 178632 (Latitude: 51.491023 Longitude: -0.117116)
This is version 1 (as of 2008-10-21 22:49:54). View current version.