Afternoon:
8°c
Critic rating
Get away at The Grove
14 Aug 2007
Recently re-launched as one of Young's new brand of "loungey" pubs, it's doing its best to live up to Young's standards and we get the feeling it's working hard at it.
The interior is suitably loungey, but with lots of nooks and crannies to hide away (if that's what you want). Beer on the taps is, as one would expect, Young's, but with the addition of several euro-lagers and Leffe to appeal to the bar-going crowd.
Looks like they've got a decent wine list as well as a reasonably-priced menu. As it's set back in a quiet residential area, it's hard to tell how this one goes down of an evening with the locals.
Signs in the entryway asking patrons to respect their neighbours in the evenings suggest there may have been some tension previously. Still, it's a good place to get away from the hustle and bustle of Camberwell Green, particularly if it's a nice day and you fancy sitting in the sun with a pint.
CLIENTELE: locals, arty types
NEAREST STATION: Denmark Hill station
PHONE NUMBER: 020 7703 4553
FEATURES: traditional pub games, live music, outdoor seating, quiz night Monday
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (2)
I was at the Grove on a Friday evening. The food was good. The service was polite and fast (but they did have some problems with our bill). Not as 'pubby' as other places I've been but it was ok all around.
- Chuck, Valley Falls, Kansas, 10/11/2007 00:12
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This pub doesn't impress at all - it's like a higher class, more expensive version of the Wetherspoons pub that is up on Denmark Hill. It has the same (lack of) atmosphere although here instead of old men you have a virtually deserted pub with one or two smug families (day) or office workers (evening); virtually no local people.
The Grove is expensive, charging in the region of £3.80 for pints, £5+ for glasses of wine. The food, unless you get one of the two-for-one special offers, is also more than what I would expect to pay in a pub. There is also the 'optional' service charge element of bills which I object to.
I think the market this pub is going for -'young professionals', young families - is well catered for in Camberwell already and so there is not the demand as in other places where similar Youngs pubs are found, eg Putney, Fulham, Vauxhall.
In Camberwell we like our pubs to have a bit more style and to be less corporate so places like the Dark Horse pub just across the road from the Grove, the Castle and Funky Munky on Camberwell Church Street, the George Canning further up Grove Lane and not forgetting the Sun and Doves on Coldharbour Lane are very popular. I would recommend that anyone in Camberwell try out any of these pubs before the Grove.
- Simon, Camberwell, UK, 30/08/2007 11:53
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