The Red Deer, South Croydon

This place is a sh1t pit. . . .

When you walk in this place, it's what I imagine it was like to walk into a wild west saloon in 1880, with everyone turning to see the stranger in town.

The service is sound enough, however, the selection is pretty limited. Real Ale enthusiasts will find it grim.
The menu LOOKS nice, but it is dangerous to judge a book by it's cover, my first and last meal there had me studying the "Armitage Shanks" logo at home far too often for my liking.

The atmospehere is as clicky as spanish maracas, with the locals in there looking like something from 'The Deliverance'.
I once dared to put my name on the chalk board for a game of pool . . . You'd have thought I had just pi55ed on their chips for the stares.

The TV's are ALWAYS on, even for non live sport, or simply non event sport.
The World Curling Championship would get an airing in here no worries.

It always had a Chav element, but this has escalated to scary heights since the closing of "The Duke", the Chav safe haven further down the Brighton Road.
They have now turned the Red Deer into a cross between a Middlesbrough Housing Estate and the Jeremy Kyle show. . . Pikey Tastic!

What doesn't help is that the Deer doesn't seemed to be loved by it's owners, with three new managers in there in the space of 9 months.
If this place was taken over by a hard working couple, willing to put the graft in for the long run, then this place has potential.
It's a cracking sized place, with great location in the nicer part of town. Get rid of the scum giving this place a name of shame, and bring back the glory days.
In the interim, I'm afraid it's avoid at all costs, unless 'U iz a pucker Geez, and wanna get mash up'

Do yourself a favour and take a 2 minute stroll to the Purley Arms.

27 Mar 2008 11:52