Saturday 6 February 2016

Woolpack

The Woolpack is a down-to-earth alternative to the Garrison opposite, even if its website witters on about ‘unwinding in the heart of bohemian Bermondsey’.

The location is prosaic – a side street branching off from the London Bridge rail estuary – but that shouldn’t detract from what’s a quality two-floor pub-restaurant. Beer-wise, you’ll find the likes of Kirin Ichiban, Leffe and Thwaites Nutty Black, while the dozen-strong wine list (by the glass and bottle) includes a few unusual offerings.

Mains are of the beer-battered haddock and chips or Cumberland sausage and mash variety, and cost around a tenner. The smaller, tiled downstairs space feels lived-in and traditional, while upstairs is even more relaxed.

The Best Pubs Near London Bridge Station 0

The Best Pubs Near London Bridge Station

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For commuters, London Bridge station is the gateway to central London from the South East. For tourists it’s close to Tower Bridge, Tate Modern, The Globe and Borough Market. And for those in the know, it’s home to some of the best pubs in the city.

For all those reasons, London Bridge is just as busy over the weekend as it is on a weekday.

So whether you’ve missed your train, are held up by delays or just want to meet up with friends in one of the oldest parts of the city, here are some pubs to try all within a short walk (ideal if you need to make that train).

Bunch of Grapes

Walking distance from train station: 3 minutes

Need to know

Tucked down a side street alongside London Bridge before you cross the road to Borough Market, this is a local-style pub with a wide selection of local lagers.

It has a good-sized downstairs bar, a slightly more dining room feel to the upstairs and a decent (covered) beer garden at the back.

It’s the kind of place you might find yourself wandering if for one, but several hours later…

Getting there: 2 St Thomas Street, Borough, London , SE1 9RS
Opening Hours: Mon-Wed: 9am to 11pm, Thur-Sat: 9am-midnight, Sun: 12pm to 11pm
Feeling hungry?: Food served from midday to 10pm Mon to Sat. Hot bar snacks, burgers, pie and mash, fish and chips.

London Bridge serves Charing Cross (West End) and Cannon Street (for The City) and has c42m rail passengers through its platforms every day. The Tube lines that run through the station are the Jubilee Line and Northern Line (Bank Branch)

Bedales

Walking distance from train station: 3 minutes

Need to know

It is hard to believe that such a chilled out place could be found in the heart of one of London’s busiest markets.

It’s all exposed brick walls and candlelight at night, which makes it a romantic option if you are having a bit of a “Brief Encounter” moment near the train station.

It also sells wine from around the world to take away, and the staff know their stuff if you need a recommendation.

Getting there: 5 Bedale Street, London, SE1 9AL
Feeling hungry?: Top class cheese and charcuterie: See full menu
Opening Hours: Mon-Wed: 10am to 10.30pm, Thur-Fri: 10am to 11pm, Sat 9am to 10pm, Sun: 10am to 7pm

Bedales food platter

Parts of London Bridge station have been demolished and rebuilt over the years. Even when it opened in 1836 as the London and Greenwich Railway (later South East Railway), it closed immediately to add the London and Croydon Railway (later London Brighton and South Coast Railway) to it. You can still tell that there was once two separate railways.

George Inn

Walking distance from train station: 4 mins

Need to know

Not many pubs are also a National Trust property, but being the last remaining galleried inn in London, the George Inn isn’t any old pub (Charles Dickens even mentions it in Little Dorrit)

In the summer, sitting out in one of the best beer gardens in London, you can sometimes see parties of tourists being shown the gallery, visible from the trestle tables.

Inside the Tudor-like interior (the original burnt down in 1676) there are plenty of nooks and crannies to enjoy a real ale and a natter.

Getting there: 75-77 Borough High Street, London SE1 1NH
Feeling hungry?: It has a nice mixture of main courses and sharing plates: Full menu
Opening Hours: Mon_Sat: 11am to 11pm, Sun: 12pm to 10.30pm

Southwark Tavern

Walking distance from train station: 4 mins

The Southwark Tavern

Need to know

This pub has one of the best ranges of real ales and craft beers in the London Bridge area.

Don’t be put off by the crowds of people standing outside, it’s no indicator of how busy it is inside, people just like hanging out there.

Our tip is to head downstairs, with its cellar-like atmosphere and open brickwork, grab a booth and settle in for a session.

Downstairs at The Southwark Tavern

Getting there: 22 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1TU
Feeling hungry?: Mains like fish and chips and sharing snacks like sliders. A good spot for a Sunday Roast.Full menu
Opening Hours: Mon-Thur: 11am to Midnight, Fri-Sat: 11am-1am, Sun: noon to midnight.

Katzenjammers

Distance from train station: 4 1/2 mins

Need to know

Just round the corner from the Southwark Tavern, this Borough Bierkeller is great for meeting up with bigger groups, thanks to its Oktoberfest-style tables.

Try an authentic Bavarian Beer while listening to the Oompah band on a Friday night.

This pub doesn’t take itself too seriously – you’ll probably end up sharing a table, and the atmosphere is charmingly convivial.

Website and Twitter

Getting there: Hop Exchange, 24 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1TY
Feeling hungry?: Schnitzel, Sauerkraut and sausages: Full Menu
Opening Hours: Mon-Thu: 12am to 11pm, Fri-Sat: 12am to 12pm, Sun: 12pm to 10:30pm

Pubs and bars near London Bridge

Have we included all of your favourite pubs and bars, or do you think we need to add more?

Let us know your favourite drinking spots in London Bridge by leaving a comment below.

We have also put together guides of other mainline stations:

Fenchurch Street Station
Liverpool Street Station
Waterloo Station
Kings Cross Station
Charing Cross Station
Victoria Street Station
Paddington Station
Euston Station
Farringdon Station

And finally check our hotels near London Bridge and keep an eye on your train times.

Hide Bar

The Hide Bar has ridden out the credit crunch with aplomb, filling to the gills from Thursdays onward with nine-to-fivers happy to be sinking quality mixed drinks near a transport hub.

Most cocktails are priced in the £6.50 to £7 range, including house specials such as the Passionate Englishman (Hendrick’s gin stirred with passion fruit purée), the Bermondsey Martini (Jensen’s gin and Noilly Prat) and the American in London (Knob Creek bourbon infused with Earl Grey tea, peach liqueur, Peychaud’s bitters and sweet vermouth).

Katzenjammers

Although the vaulted basement rooms are very attractive, the big draw at this underground bar is the German beer. There are seven on draught, plus more than a score by the bottle; among them is Paulaner Hefe-Weizbier, a wonderful wheat beer, alongside a comprehensive selection of weissbiers and dunkels, kölsch beers, dark lagers, pilsners and more.

The food is as German as the beer selection: wursts in various guises, a couple of roasts and schnitzels. And pretzels among the starters, of course. Sides include red cabbage and sauerkraut, and Sacher cake is one of the two desserts bought in from the Backhaus bakery in Borough Market.

Live music from an oompah band combined with a heaving crowd can make this a fairly noisy place. But the beers alone make it worth considering.

Lord Clyde

A haven of tranquillity in a Borough sidestreet bookended by Peabody Trust residences, the Lord Clyde is a lived-in home from home for middle-aged regulars and penny-conscious students.

A Truman’s landmark – note the pub sign outside and the etched mirror within (‘Unrivalled Mild Ales & Double Stout’) – the Clyde now offers a multitude of brewery flagship ales: Young’s, London Pride, Adnams.

Prices are more than reasonable, but perhaps not as affordable as the 1/6d pale ale on offer when England last won the World Cup, as revealed by a July 1966 price list mounted under a large TV linked up to Sky Sports. Draught lagers are glugged by regulars playing darts in a back room otherwise decorated by a print depicting the Lord Clyde’s heroic action at the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War.

Pictures of ships and Spitfires, and an old Player’s cigarette ad, continue the armed forces theme.

Market Porter

Rare is the evening – or, for that matter, the Saturday afternoon – when this place isn’t packed to the gunwales. The reasons for its popularity are plainly apparent: a handsome, old-fashioned room; a plum location; and one of the best real-ale selections in London.

Spend any time here, though, and its shortcomings will become obvious: the staff who don’t seem to have much idea what they’re serving, a shame given the huge variety of ales and the lack of a central board detailing what’s on offer; and the lack of seats in the S-shaped room, which fosters not so much intimacy but discomfort. Beer tourists will find plenty to enjoy, but there are more comfortable pubs nearby in which to spend an evening.

Gladstone Arms

Now independently owned, the Glad is no longer a staid, empty corner pub. While the Victorian prime minister from whom the place takes its name still glares from a massive mural on the outer wall, the interior is now funky, freaky and candlelit.

Gigs take place at one end of a cosy one-room space; opposite, a bar dispenses pints of Red Stripe, Beck’s Vier, St Austell Tribute and Doom Bar, while pies provide sustenance, and a crammed back bar embellished by a retro ‘On Air’ studio sign manages to find space for bottles of Moretti, Sol, Corona, Peroni and Budvar.

The retro feel is completed by the kind of clock you still might see on the platform of a provincial railway station in Slovakia. Lovers of board games should choose a Monday or Tuesday for that slow, strategic game of Risk or head upstairs to the quieter salon-style room, which also has more upmarket food.

Royal oak

Perfectly treading the line between old man boozer and cutesy retro watering hole, this Victorian corner pub’s a lovely blend of the scruffy and the pretty. Charming net curtains are strung halfway down the ceiling-high windows, a dozen pieces of vintage china are mounted above the bar, and to move through the pub, you have to step through immaculately maintained dark wooden doors holding pretty etched glass windows. There’s a huge jar of pickled eggs atop the scuffed wooden bar, a Royal British Legion book sale in the lobby and the food menu is marker-penned on to a yellow piece of paper on the wall.

Given a drinks selection largely consisting of ales from Harvey’s brewery in Sussex (which runs the pub), drinkers are largely men in their thirties and older. But the most important thing about this charming, characterful boozer: it’s curiously unbothered by the crowds you’ll find in other Borough pubs. So it’s perfect for a quiet few pints.

London Bridge NEAR PUBS

If you're searching for a great place for a few drinks why not try Time Out's guide to the best bars and pubs near London Bridge. Hit Royal Oak for specialty beers or Boot & Flooger for a fine wine in nearby Borough. Those looking for a cosy pub should head to Gladstone Arms for a candlelit pub experience and if cocktails are on the cards try Hide Bar. Think we've missed a great bar or pub near London Bridge? Let us know in the comment box below.

Boot & Flogger

‘JHn. Davy Free Vintner’ reads the sign on the wall of an empty Borough side street, above an 071 number. It may as well read ‘Southwark 1184’ for all the modernity present within. ‘Hello, Sir,’ calls out Peter Common from behind a hatch as you enter, admiring the beautiful wood-panelled interior and occasional finely upholstered chair amid the wooden ones.

A bowl of water biscuits awaits on the counter, where the promise of rare sirloin and cured ox tongue cold cuts is chalked up alongside game pie and fresh Newlyn crab meat, white only. The wine selection is concise: affordable house French red or white among a dozen by the glass; another dozen half-bottles; and a premium list of limited-availability reds and magnums of claret.

A sign says that the Boot & Flogger offers ‘port, sherry and Madeira direct from the wood’; but alas, the glasses (around £4.50) are no longer filled from the cask. Among the decorative pictures is a notice calling for men to join the Light Brigade; indeed, this is the kind of place officers would have gathered before the fateful journey to the Crimea.