The Burning Church

It wasn't long since that the idea of a pub crawl on Deptford High Street was laughable - the rather skanky White Swan* being the only regular drinking venue on the street, if you didn't count the shebeens and late night clubs.

But then the Job Centre turned up as a regular fixture, and although Little Nan's cocktails came and went in all too short a time, it was fun while it lasted.

Now however we are starting to see a few new venues appearing on a regular basis, and for a lightweight like me, the idea of a pub crawl along the high street is starting to seem like a possibility at last! I haven't yet tried out the evening fayre at London Velo cafe at the top end of the high street - their beer offering did not look too hopeful when I was last in there - but I am going to try and get sample it sometime soon.

However I've tried the Waiting Room's Friday and Saturday night pop-up bar The Burning Church a couple of times for ales and cocktails. They have commissioned a special Deptford Anchor light blonde ale to sell in the bar - it's rather too light and fizzy for my liking and the bottles I had were thoroughly chilled but apparently you can have it at room temperature if you prefer. It's £3.50 a bottle  and invaluable for keeping the spirit of the anchor alive.

I think the cocktails won me over though - featuring ingredients such as Deptford Dock Gin, oodles of dark rum, and as you might expect for a pop up bar in a coffee shop, lots of cocktails with espresso-based liqueurs and coffee husks. As you might expect in the Waiting Room, made with loving care and a bit of ceremony but not the ridiculously flash and long-winded performance that you get in those pretentious joints.

(Photo: Waiting Room)

Sure, it's a tiny place and you can't get more than a dozen or so people in there without it getting pretty cosy, but it's been pretty laid back when I've been in, and there's always the tables outside on the pavement if it's not British summer weather! Open till 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, they also serve their veggie and vegan food in the evenings - a useful alternative to the Job Centre kitchen hijack which is not always very veggie-friendly.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Waiting-Room/174709262577639

*Incidentally I did notice last weekend that the White Swan was undergoing a bit of a refurb, although I didn't see any sign of hand pumps appearing on the bar so not wildly optimistic about that.