Hoopers Bar, Peckham  

There's been a sizeable turnaround in South London's pubs in the last eighteen months or so. From Camberwell down to Sydenham, a good number of boozers have been smartened up and relaunched to keep in step with gentrification south of the river. So, when we heard that the Ivanhoe in SE5 had been taken over and reopened, we were pretty sure we'd be leafing through our gastronglish phrase books to help us with the menu. That's not the case though: Hoopers is very much a pub and one that's heavily into its beers, with a rotating supply of guest ales. The elegant wooden interior adds to a pleasant air, but unfortunately we felt rather underwhelmed after our visit. Our drinks were fine, but we just didn't get much sense of an atmosphere. It's always tricky for a pub to relaunch itself, especially when it's aiming for a different clientele than the pub it replaced. We hope there's room for this one on the local drinking circuit, and we'll keep an eye on it to see how it develops. There's definitely all the makings of a good pub here, but it just didn't click for us when we stopped by. Still, worth giving it a try if you're passing through the area.

reviewed:
02/06/2007

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regular guest beers

TV

quiz night Thursday

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