South / The Palmerston

If you ask any local where to eat on restaurant-and bar-thronged Lordship Lane, they’re likely to namecheck the Palmerston, a revamped traditional pub that’s famous for its gastronomic glories. It’s a wood-lined, intimate place, classic and simple, with changing exhibitions on the walls, a long green-leather banquette, and close-set wooden tables and chairs. One room is wood-floored, the other has fine mosaic flooring that is easy to miss as you lovingly peruse the menu.

The pub’s polished, timeworn panelling gives it something of the feel of a room in a grand country house, with simple wrought-iron chandeliers overhead, and it’s an appealing place to settle into any night of the week. The crowd is mainly local – a relaxed crowd of the twenty-, thirty- and forty-somethings that congregate in this neck of the woods – and a good mix.
As inviting as the surroundings, the company and the beers are, it’s the food that hauls in the hordes. This award-winning gastropub is overseenby head chef Jamie Harding (formerly of Bibendum) and offers an eating experience that’s a far-flung fat chip ahead of most pub-restaurants. You can dive in with dishes such as poached egg with potato, chives and truffle vinaigrette and go on to eat steak with Roquefort and parsley butter or line-caught wild sea bass with purple sprouting broccoli, anchovy and rosemary butter. Sunday lunch is a triumph, as are puddings, and it’s rare to find a pub harbouring a wine list this spectacular, all handily described, with some delectable treats by the glass. Of course, there’s beer on tap too – a reminder that the Palmerston is a pub, not just a foodie paradise.

 

91 LORDSHIP LANE, EAST DULWICH SE22 8EP

P / 0208 693 1629

T /EAST DULWICH

thepalmerston.net

Filed under: South London

South / The Clarence

OK, so the mismatched furniture thing’s been done, but the Clarence works junk shop chic to perfection, hovering nicely between traditional boozer and trendy style bar. Three large rooms are decked out with all kinds of weathered pieces; you can pull up a tractor seat, set your drink down on an old woodwork bench or settle into a pre-requisite battered leather sofa. Deeply coloured lamp- shades cast an opium den glow, and the multitude of mirrors and clocks seem to be channelling Salvador Dali.

Hip twenty- and thirty-something locals flock to soak up the laid-back atmosphere, without the distraction of pub quizzes, big screen TVs or other pub accoutrements. In good weather, people spill out into a beer garden overlooking the High Road; fairy lights twinkle in an open-air atrium towards the back of the bar, where people can suck in carcinogens to their hearts’ content whilst still feeling part of the crowd indoors.

This isn’t the place to rock up for a pint of Stella or fiddly cocktails – these people are serious about their beer, and Budvar is as mainstream as it gets. The fridge holds an impressive selection of bottled beers from around the world – think Brooklyn Lager and Belgian fruit lovelies – and there are interesting beers and ciders on tap, complete with handy tasting notes of the kind you find slung over bottles of wine in your local offie. Wines are carefully selected through regular staff tasting sessions, and even the spirit shelf has a sprinkling of rare breeds. An excellent, solid menu of English pub favourites backs up the down to earth vibe.

90 – 91 BALHAM HIGH ROAD, BALHAM SW12 9AG

P / 0208 772 1155

T/ BALHAM

capitalpubcompany.com/clarence

Filed under: South London