The conviviality seeps through the wraparound windows on approach to this solid backstreet pub, a single-room Edwardian rebuild among Dickensian workers’ terraces. Drinking in the precincts of the great stations is often a desperate act of necessity, rather than a choice, but it’s nice to find such a homely place so close to Waterloo. The pub’s sparse, traditional countenance is welcome in an age of OTT gastro makeovers.
It’s big on real ales (with a Cask Marque acceditation for quality of keeping and serving) and craft beer. The menu offers mostly modern pub standards – fish and chips, burger – and there is a Saturday brunch menu as well as a Sunday menu with the option of several roasts.
So go for the fine drinks and the merry chatter; try it on a Sunday, when I imagine it would be a great spot for an afternoon’s lounging.