ELVERSON ROAD

Where better to start than on our own doorstep.  It would be easy to be biased towards our first pub, The Rising Sun.  Mainly because I’m writing this up three days since we first frequented the place, and already in that time we’ve enjoyed a beer or two on no fewer than 5 separate occasions.  I think it’s fair to say that no other pub will be given so much dedication on this challenge; otherwise we’ll still be traipsing around the DLR for years to come.  Still, at first glance it appears that The Rising Sun may well be the only place to grab a beer in this area – that’s if rumours (well, google) are to be believed that the only other pub in the vicinity (The Sydney Arms) has long since been boarded up – so the pressure is on, and maybe, just maybe it deserved all these multiple visits to determine what rating to give it.  More importantly though, there was a hell of a lot of football on that weekend and we don’t yet have sky in our flat.

Sydney Arms now boarded up

So, the first pub on our long journey and a promising start.  The Rising Sun scores highly in almost all categories.  The pub is clean, spacious, and has a welcoming feel to it.  During our many visits we always felt at ease, it’s the kind of place where you can leave your things at your table whilst you nip off to lose £5 on the fruit machine (as Tindall proved) and they’ll still be there when you get back.  In terms of entertainment there are 3 screens situated in strategic places meaning no matter where you are sitting, you can get a good view.  Aside from the football there’s also a pool table and a chart on the wall showed the pub is currently ranked 3^rd in a local pool league.  Its real pride though seemed to be darts.  There were 3 dart boards placed around the pub, with trophies galore representing former tournaments won.  And with promises of ‘DJ Jason’ coming down on a Friday evening too, it’s fair to say that entertainment is The Rising Sun’s strong point. 

There appears too, to be a decent sized beer garden out the back, although in truth this was spotted only by peering through the window into the dark.  The cost of beer was reasonable although they did have notices up informing you that the price was soon to be increased slightly, but even that felt ok as it was something they said that they regretted.

The only real negative aspect in our eyes was that of selection.  Food is not an option here (although it seems you are allowed to bring a takeaway in as some people were doing), unless you just fancy a snack, and most of the beers on tap were pretty standard.  All in all though, an excellent start to our quest, and in The Rising Sun, we’ve certainly found our local.

So what of the area as a whole?  Well, admittedly one pub plus another pub that is now boarded up doesn’t leave the drinker with many options, and it’s a long way to come from the City just for a cheeky pint, but the area seems fairly safe and surely an extra mark must be given just for the fact that the road opposite the pub won ‘Recycling Road of the Year in Lewisham, 2008’.  Perhaps that’ll be our next challenge – to hunt down the last 3 years winners of this quite obviously prestigious award!

Rising Sun Ratings

Facilities - 3.5
Atmosphere - 4
Cost - 4
Entertainment - 4.5
Selection - 1.5
OVERALL AVERAGE - 3.5/5

Area 2/5

ELVERSON ROAD OVERALL RATING - 5.5/10