Historical version 9 of Royal Oak, SE1 4JU (view current version)
- 020 7357 7173
- 44 Tabard St (map of this place)
- SE1 4JU
- Brewery: [Harvey's]?
Smallish, cozy, excellent beer and friendly owner/staff. The bar area is divided into two by the bar itself, with seating for about 60 people. It can get a little crowded at the end of a working day, but mostly it's fairly easy to get a seat. The regulars are also friendly.
The beer is very good. Five Harvey's beers and a seasonal are on tap, and the selection included two Milds when we visited. All are well-kept.
The pub food is pretty good and reasonably priced. The sauasage and mash consisted of good quality sausages and real mash, and came with gravy containing properly caramelised onions. Steak and chips was rather less impressive - "rare" steak was not even slightly pink. The chips that came with it were quite good, albeit a little fatty. Steak pie was full of meat, but lacked gravy slightly. All meals came with bonus winter vegetables. The various sandwich options are rumoured to be both generous and good, too. Vegetarians are very poorly provided-for: apart from sandwiches and chips, there is only one veggie meal on the menu (battered mushrooms with garlic bread and salad - it's pricey, too).
The pub is opposite [Simply Indian]?, which is also rather good. Usefully, the Royal Oak are happy to sell you a jug of beer to take across to the restaurant (in an actual glass jug, so make sure you take it back afterwards), which is in my opinion a truly great thing.
The pub was voted CAMRA London Pub Of The Year in December 2003.
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What's Brewing would suggest there is a Function Room upstairs available for hire. This needs investigating -- bob
Yep, it appears there is, & there isn't a charge. They will do you food if you want. Further information available when the function in question has occurred, but apparently the room is very nice. -- Juliet