Bridge Bar Review: A Glass Where the Railways Cross | A Bermondsey bar flying one of the most quietly evocative of names – the bridge, that ancient symbol of crossing, connection and the meeting of two sides, and a fitting emblem in a district built beneath the railway arches
Countryard Bar Review: A Playful Blend to Close the Survey | A Bermondsey beer hall flying a playful blended name – Countryard, part courtyard and part country – its tiny review count unproven, its wordplay cheerful
Gimlet Bar Review: A Cocktail Bar Named for a Naval Classic | A cocktail bar flying the name of a great classic drink – the gimlet, the sharp gin-and-lime of the Royal Navy and of Raymond Chandler’s detective
Jimmy’s Sports Bar Review: A Warm First Name Over the Big Game | A Bermondsey sports bar flying a warm, familiar first name – Jimmy’s – whose tiny review count leaves the score entirely unproven
The Arzner Bar and Cafe Review: The Pioneer Director Returns | A warm bar and cafe named, like its cinema sibling, for Dorothy Arzner – the pioneering director who broke into Hollywood – its tiny review count unproven
The Beer Bar Review: The Honest Name Reduced to Beer | A Bermondsey beer hall flying about the plainest name possible – the Beer Bar – whose tiny review count leaves the score entirely unproven
GB Grill and Bar Review: The Nation’s Initials Over the Door | A Bermondsey grill and bar flying the nation’s own initials – GB, Great Britain – whose small review count leaves the score unproven
Glue Wine Bar Review: The Bar as the Social Glue | A perfectly-scored wine bar flying a quirky, clever name – Glue, the thing that binds and holds together, exactly as a good local binds its community
The Ship Aground Review: A Sailor Safely Come Ashore | A Bermondsey pub flying a wry maritime name – the ship aground, the vessel beached and at rest, the sailor safely, permanently come ashore
Traders Wine Bar Review: A Toast to the Merchants of the River | A Bermondsey wine bar flying a name of commerce – the trader, the merchant whose buying and selling built the whole wealth of this riverside district
The Rising Review: A Warm Bermondsey Bar on the Up | A warm and welcoming Bermondsey bar flying an uplifting name – the rising, that word of dawn, ascent and hope, of things and people on the up
The Blue Anchor Review: An Old Maritime Sign on the Bermondsey Shore | A Bermondsey pub flying a classic old maritime sign – the blue anchor, that emblem of the sailor, of hope, and of the safe harbour at the end of the voyage
MASQ Review: A Bar Behind the Mask | A Bermondsey restaurant and bar flying a name of mystery and theatre – the masque, the masked ball of disguise, spectacle and hidden identity
Lechevalier Review: A Wine Bar Named for the Knight | A well-scored Bermondsey wine bar and shop flying a name of French chivalry – le chevalier, the knight, that emblem of honour, gallantry and noble bearing
The Arzner Cinema Review: A Bar Named for a Hollywood Pioneer | A Bermondsey cinema-bar named for Dorothy Arzner – the pioneering director who, for years, was the only woman making films in Hollywood
The Victoria Review: The Great Queen’s Name Over a Bermondsey Local | A well-loved Bermondsey pub flying the name of Queen Victoria – the monarch who reigned over the age that built this very district
Horangee Pocha Review: A Korean Tiger and a Street-Tent Bar | A Korean BBQ and karaoke bar flying a vivid name from the streets of Korea – the tiger, and the pocha, the beloved orange-tented street bar of a Korean night
The Old Justice Review: A Riverside Pub Named for the Law | A well-scored Bermondsey riverside pub flying a name of gravity and order – the old justice, the magistrate and the ancient scales of the law itself
Bar Tozino Review: Iberian Ham Under the Bermondsey Arches | A Spanish tapas bar under the Bermondsey railway arches, devoted to jamon – the great cured Iberian ham – with a name that puns on the pig itself
The Windmill Review: A Pub Named for the Sails on the Skyline | A pub flying the name of the windmill – that great turning landmark of the old landscape, harnessing the wind to grind the grain into the nation’s bread
Simon the Tanner Review: The Land of Leather’s Own Pub | A Bermondsey pub whose name marries a biblical tanner with the district’s own defining trade – the leather and tanning that made Bermondsey the land of leather
The Brown Bear Review: A Beast of Old Bankside Over the Door | A pub flying the ancient sign of the bear – a beast that recalls the rough old bear-baiting pits of Bankside, and the heraldic strength of the oldest inn signs
The Old School Yard Review: A Karaoke Bar Full of Playground Nostalgia | A Bermondsey karaoke bar flying a name of warm nostalgia – the old school yard, the playground of childhood, where the games and the friendships began
The Grange Review: A Country Name for a Bermondsey Pub | A Bermondsey pub flying an old rural name – the grange, that ancient word for the outlying farmhouse and its barns, bringing a breath of the country to the city
The Doodle Bar Review: A Bar That Invites You to Draw on the Walls | A Bermondsey bar flying a playful, creative name – the doodle, that idle, joyful scribble, in a bar that famously invites you to draw on its very surfaces
The Last Talisman Review: An Asian Fusion Bar Named for a Charm | A Bermondsey Asian-fusion bar flying a name of magic and protection – the talisman, the ancient charm or amulet carried to bring luck and ward off harm
St James of Bermondsey Review: The Parish Saint Over a Local Door | A Bermondsey pub named for St James – the apostle and pilgrim’s saint whose grand Georgian church still presides over the parish
The Bar Review: The Platonic Ideal of a Name | A Bermondsey cocktail bar flying the most stripped-back name imaginable – The Bar, the platonic ideal, the thing itself and nothing more
Hakata Ramen Review: The Pork-Bone Broth of Fukuoka in Bermondsey | A Bermondsey ramen bar named for Hakata – the old merchant district of Fukuoka that gave the world its most famous pork-bone tonkotsu ramen
