Brixton food & drink news: new restaurants, bars, pop ups, cafes and more

[jimbarkanoodle]

Well as long as they don't do what the POW have and bang their prices up, then charge you a service charge on top of that for someone to bring you a shitty flat pint in a plastic cup, i know where ill choose to drink given the choice.

 

[editor]

Well as long as they don't do what the POW have and bang their prices up, then charge you a service charge on top of that for someone to bring you a shitty flat pint in a plastic cup, i know where ill choose to drink given the choice.

What are their prices like now? I've been enjoying the Railway recently - big garden, proper glasses, easy to use app and swift table service and no service charge. Not the cheapest but it's a pleasant place to be. I wish the Albert and Effra Social would reopen though as there's loads of pub pal regulars I haven't seen since the lockdown.

 

[jimbarkanoodle]

I think the cheapest was £4.90 for a 4% version of Becks, i'd have maybe coped with that had it been served in a glass, fizzy and not with another 40p service charge plonked on it. Also, as i previously posted, to obtain one of these i had to be questioned, photographed, searched, water confiscated and belittled about out of date I.D to be allowed into the venue at 5pm on a Tuesday.

I wont be going anywhere near the place for some time!

 

[editor]

I think the cheapest was £4.90 for a 4% version of Becks, i'd have maybe coped with that had it been served in a glass, fizzy and not with another 40p service charge plonked on it. Also, as i previously posted, to obtain one of these i had to be questioned, photographed, searched, water confiscated and belittled about out of date I.D to be allowed into the venue at 5pm on a Tuesday.

I wont be going anywhere near the place for some time!

That sounds dreadful. But then, getting into the roof bit of the Prince has rarely been a pleasurable experience. How come you were photographed? Was that to ensure you left at the allotted time?

Hootananny's a better bet if you want something vaguely musical but without the interrogation/ID/plastic glasses on a Tuesday.

 

[jimbarkanoodle]

No, it was to check that the I.D matched my face, i presume. A big cross came up on the screen beside it indicating it was invalid, as its over 10 years out of date as i never learnt how to drive. So i was interrogated by the bouncer and told i'd be let in just this once but ought to contact the DVLA asap. I get why they have to do this when letting people into a club night at 11pm on a Friday night, not at 5pm on a Tuesday afternoon to an empty venue to 2 people wanting a quick pint.

I had actually gone to Hootanannys initailly, but it got to about quarter past 5 and they seemed in no hurry to open up so i made the bad decision to try the POW

 

[coldwaterswim]

What are their prices like now? I've been enjoying the Railway recently - big garden, proper glasses, easy to use app and swift table service and no service charge. Not the cheapest but it's a pleasant place to be. I wish the Albert and Effra Social would reopen though as there's loads of pub pal regulars I haven't seen since the lockdown.

Aren't the albert having a refurb at the min? Sure I read that somewhere

 

[editor]

Aren't the albert having a refurb at the min? Sure I read that somewhere

Yes. I guess they took the opportunity to do the place up. Word is that the notorious bogs will be transformed!

 

[editor]

Popped into the Effra Hall Tavern last night. Very quiet. You have to wear a mask as you come and when you order at the bar, but I didn't see any 'sanitiser stations' and no one took any contact tracing details. Felt pretty safe, mainly because it was so quiet.

 

[editor]

I took a look at the Dogstar yesterday and it looks more like it used to in the days when it was known as the Atlantic. The DJ booth has gone so I guess that marks a shift in direction for the future. I kinda like seeing it as more of a traditional pub to be honest.

Good to see they were offering their Volden Session beer for just £3.30/pint and the Pale Ale at £4.50/pint isn't so bad. The rest of their draught beers all hover around the fiver/£5.80 mark - the cheapest is Pravha at £4.60 and the most expensive is Gamma Ray at a hefty £6.

 

[jimbarkanoodle]

I was in Pratts and Payne last week and prices were the same, i think. Perhaps Antic just pushed them up even more at the EDT to take advantage of the East Dulwich clientele. Bit rubbish if you are not one of the few people round there that doesnt own a £1 million house etc. Its now just as pricey as all the other pubs on Lordship Lane.

 

[editor]

The upmarket Maremma restaurant is reopening this week on Thursday 20th August - initially just a restaurant but with 3-course meals delivered locally and the deli to follow in September.

They are taking bookings online and their opening menu can be viewed on their website.

Tuscan Food | Maremma Restaurant | United Kingdom

A neighbourhood restaurant in Brixton focusing on regional specialities from the Maremma region in Tuscany, Italy

www.maremmarestaurant.com

 

[coldwaterswim]

Cafe van goph aiming to reopen 15th September with bookings open a week before

 

[editor]

Here's how the Dogstar looks now

They're also putting in new stairs to access the ballroom, which makes sense. Shame the DJ booth has gone. That looks like another source of income for me that's evaporated.

 

[BusLanes]

That looks a lot like Antic's Balham Bowls Club style

 

[Mr paulee]

Antic goes generic.
LOL.

 

[editor]

Antic goes generic.
LOL.

I'd rather a generic pub than a divisive, on-trend, city-backed unaffordable restaurant/private club/themed bar with sky high prices.

 

[Mr paulee]

I'd rather a generic pub than a divisive, on-trend, city-backed unaffordable restaurant/private club/themed bar with sky high prices.

Max went cap in hand to the city after he set up Gregarious, when Antic went bust due to it's 2.6m debts including HMRC.
So to be precise - it is city backed.

 

[editor]

Max went cap in hand to the city after he set up Gregarious, when Antic went bust due to it's 2.6m debts including HMRC.
So to be precise - it is city backed.

Yet still affordable. Maybe they will go bust soon anyway and you'll get that upmarket, elitist, divisive trendy bar/restaurant/private bar that you seem to want to replace them.

 

[Mr paulee]

Yet still affordable. Maybe they will go bust soon anyway and you'll get that upmarket, elitist, divisive trendy bar/restaurant/private bar that you seem to want to replace them.

Never have I said that [ed: name removed]. Never.
what I have made clear is that Antic is a fuckkng shambles of a company.
I have also said that if any nu-Brixton outfit had behaved in such a way the usual sources would be up in arms.

 

[TopCat]

I really hope The Albert opens again. I'm not confident. No sign of refurb workers there.

 

[editor]

I really hope The Albert opens again. I'm not confident. No sign of refurb workers there.

According to the landlord it will be opening "in September" although I haven't seen any activity either.

 

[editor]

Never have I said that [ed: name removed]. Never.
what I have made clear is that Antic is a fuckkng shambles of a company.
I have also said that if any nu-Brixton outfit had behaved in such a way the usual sources would be up in arms.

Don't post up my real name please. The rules are very clear on that.

And I'm sorry if this crushes the point you keep banging on and on and on about, but plenty of people here have criticised the company's behaviour in the past. I described them as " a particularly slippery company" in 2015, and have been consistent in my mixed feelings about them. Not sure what else you expect me to say, years later.

I have mixed feeling about Antic. They're adept at legal financial shenanigans which involve bouncing back from bankruptcy more or less unscathed (and, presumably, with debtors left unpaid) and that's clearly not a good thing.

But on the other hand they're saving pubs that otherwise would almost certainly have been lost to flats etc., and some venues are quite generous with letting community groups use their facilities for free.

And in current news, the Dogstar's renaming back to the Atlantic seems to be proceeding at a rate of knots.

 

[cuppa tee]

......the Dogstar's renaming back to the Atlantic seems to be proceeding at a rate of knots.

hopefully they won’t do the same with the effra social

Never have I said that [ed: name removed]. Never.
what I have made clear is that Antic is a fuckkng shambles of a company.
I have also said that if any nu-Brixton outfit had behaved in such a way the usual sources would be up in arms.

i remember when Antic were regarded as nu-brixton, the cocktail gaff in the arches being one example.

 

[BusLanes]

Popped into the Elm Park today and the staff confirmed, as we suspected that it has a new owner/s - the people who were running it pre Pandemic seem to have moved on.

 

[editor]

Very quiet in the Effra Hall Tavern last night.

 

[Mr paulee]

Don't post up my real name please. The rules are very clear on that.

And I'm sorry if this crushes the point you keep banging on and on and on about, but plenty of people here have criticised the company's behaviour in the past. I described them as " a particularly slippery company" in 2015, and have been consistent in my mixed feelings about them. Not sure what else you expect me to say, years later.


And in current news, the Dogstar's renaming back to the Atlantic seems to be proceeding at a rate of knots.

Crushes ? LOL. Again no.

I joined less than a year ago Ed (apologies I wasn't aware of the name rules) but I wasn't going to search back 5 years to something you may or may have not said.

 

[CH1]

Here's how the Dogstar looks now

They're also putting in new stairs to access the ballroom, which makes sense. Shame the DJ booth has gone. That looks like another source of income for me that's evaporated.

That's somewhat like it looked in 1980 - though I think the lower parts of the windows were frosted and branded, (Ind Coope, Guinness etc). I don't remember any pictures on the walls - if there were any they would have been Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff etc.)

 

[nick]

My first thought also was that it was not dissimilar to my (hazy) recollection of the Atlantic (v1.0)

 

[jimbarkanoodle]

Very quiet in the Effra Hall Tavern last night.

Any idea what seems to be putting people off? I've not been back in since corona, is it table service, app downloading and track and trace stuff that is scaring the regulars away?

 

[editor]

Any idea what seems to be putting people off? I've not been back in since corona, is it table service, app downloading and track and trace stuff that is scaring the regulars away?

It doesn't feel that much different - you have to wear a mask to come in and order your drink at the bar and you can't loiter around the bar, but once you're sat down it feels pretty much like it always did. They do have quite a low restriction on the amount of people that can be in the pub at the same time - a 'full up' sign briefly appeared at the door but went quiet pretty quickly after that.