Toby Carvery Eden Park, Eden Park, Beckenham

This is a fairly typical branch of the Toby Carvery chain, located over the road from Eden Park station. Perhaps the one thing that set this apart from other pubs in this chain, was that the entire front area actually felt like a pub, rather than the usual restaurant with a bar area set-up you tend to get with such venues. There was also a notable lack of feral kids running amok, as the pub slowly filled up ahead of a big cup tie at nearby Beckenham Town’s stadium. The front bar area struck me as the sort of drinker’s space you might find in any food-led pub, benefiting from smart decor, comfortable seating, a pleasant colour scheme and some nice fixtures and fittings. It’s set across a split-level area, with plenty of partitioning, making it almost feel cosy in some spots, although plenty of people were eating here as well, so it wasn’t entirely possible to shake the restaurant element. There are plenty of modern distractions as well, including a few slot machines, TV screens and at least one toy vending machine. The bar has an impressive counter with nice panelled frontage which suggests the building may well have been a ‘proper’ pub prior to its current incarnation. Further back, there’s a greeter’s area backed by large glass cases full of large branded Toby jugs. Beyond this is the main restaurant area, very much in a different part of the building to the bar, to the point that I didn’t actually get to take a look at it. Roadside bench seating can be found out the front and there’s a car park out the back - be sure to enter your car registration details into the i-pad next to the greeter’s lectern to avoid getting a fine. The bar has three handpulls, one of which was decorated with a Halloween spider, leaving the other two to dispense Sharps Doom Bar and Fullers London Pride, with the latter clocking in at a reasonable £4.50 a pint. The service was quite polite and my pint of Pride was in decent condition, against all expectations. I’d never expect to enjoy a visit to a Toby Carvery, especially without having anything to eat, but this was actually a reasonable visit and they should be commended for creating a decent drinker’s space that worked well serving a modest pre-match crowd. It’s unlikely you’ll want to spend an extended session here, but with so few pubs in this part of town, it was good to have the option to enjoy a decent pint of ale before heading to the match.

Official site of Toby Carvery Eden Park - www.tobycarvery.co.uk

Official site of Toby Carvery Eden Park - www.tobycarvery.co.uk