British Oak — Restaurant in London

This afternoon I visited your establishment with a large group of family & friends to celebrate my grandads 80th birthday. My family regularly frequent your establishment and we have never had a negative experience before. Whilst there, myself, partner, brother, cousin and my 4 year old daughter went to the inside seating area to order some pies, we know this is something you are known for and apparently the only thing you serve on your limited menu (I wasn’t aware you didn’t have a children’s menu or wider variety of choice as I haven’t eaten there before, only usually order drinks). We sat, ordered our pies (which we thought were delicious) and ordered drinks alongside this.During this time we had gotten my 4 year old daughter some chicken nuggets from another establishment as she has ARFID and needed to eat something for dinner, but your limited menu meant we were unable to order her something that you sell. My daughter started eating some of her nuggets at the table as we were finishing off our pies and one of the women from behind the bar started raising her voice at us, exclaiming that my child could not eat her food inside as this was policy and we had to leave. We explained that we had just ordered pies and the nuggets were only for my daughter as she wasn’t able to eat anything else, we didn’t understand who this could possibly be offending. The lady repeated herself again multiple times and we agreed to sit outside so my daughter could eat her dinner, we really didn’t want to make it an issue. We proceeded to go outside and sat at one of the wooden tables so my daughter could carry on eating in peace, but a few minutes later a man appeared next to me and also started having a go at us about the fact my 4 year old was eating some chicken nuggets. I can only assume this man was the owner/manager by the pig headedness he exerted. I explained that my daughter was causing no harm and we had just purchased pies ourselves from his establishment so we didn’t understand why such a massive issue was being made over such a trivial matter. I explained that my daughter was only 4 and couldn’t eat from their menu to which he replied “I don’t care if she’s 4 or 40, this is policy and if we let it go for one then we must do the same for everyone that comes with their own food. How would you like it if you owned a business and everyone started bringing their own food, we sell food here so why would we allow other food on our premises.” I want to point out that we didn’t arrive with pre-prepared food to eat at the establishment, we went out to get the food from elsewhere as my daughter couldn’t eat from the menu provided. The man proceeded to repeat the fact that this was all policy and we need to leave the premises immediately. I asked if they could let it go as this was a 4 year old child and we were paying customers. This carried on back & forth until I walked away and went up to my family to tell them we were being forced to leave because my daughter was eating a few chicken nuggets. I think the man realised at this point I was with the large group of people who have frequented the establishment before, because he came up to us and said “oh it’s been such a nice day let’s not ruin it with all of this, I’ll let it go for today but you know for next time” I can completely understand that this owner/manager has put forward this ‘policy’ so that people purchase his food items, and as stated before we did purchase food there. But my daughter is very young and struggles with eating certain textures/flavours, I assumed letting her eat a few nuggets would be harmless. We didn’t purchase food from elsewhere out of spite, it was to make sure my daughter had something to eat. We were treated and spoken to disgustingly if I’m being honest, all because a child was trying to eat a few chicken nuggets due to your menu not being child friendly. I always thought of your establishment as family friendly but have seen a different side today. I can’t say for sure if my family will return in the future but I...

🚇 Westcombe Park 🍺 £5.60 Cruzcampo

The British Oak is located in Blackheath, Southeast London. The nearest station is Westcombe Park, it’s a ten minute walk to get here.

This imposing three storey ex Courage pub was built in 1858. The architecture is quite unique for a pub, there's a cast-iron balcony running across the first floor which is supported on iron columns forming a sheltered veranda.

This is a good size two bar pub that is traditionally decorated. The public bar is located front left and has an ‘L’ shaped bar, traditional furniture, a jukebox and dartboard. The Saloon bar is at the right rear, this is a spacious area which has beautiful interwar wall panelling, plenty of seating and a proper pub carpet. There are two outside spaces, a paved area at the front and a pleasant beer garden to the rear.

The beer selection was spot on, there is a good mix of mainstream, craft and cask ales. The beer is so good here, this pub regularly features in ‘The Good Beer Guide’. I kept it simple and opted for a Cruzcampo, my pint was on point and pleasingly cost less than six quid. The food menu is @pieminister pies, there are ten varieties to choose from, Pie, Mash and Gravy costs £11.

I arrived just after 5pm on a warm Saturday afternoon in June. The pub was fairly busy in the Public and there were a few punters dotted around in the Saloon. This pub has a lovely local feel to it and I was made to feel welcome. There is a charismatic Guv’nor at the helm who was keeping the locals entertained.

This pub hosts open mic, a pub quiz, live music and community events.

On my travels around London pubs, I’m always on the look out for a classic traditional British boozer. I am happy to report that @britishoakblackheath is one such pub. If you are ever over this way, be sure to visit this Fantastic London Pub.

ℹ️ Info correct on...

I come to this pub every week order a drink and finish off my workday before moving on to a community sport session I volunteer at. I informed the lady serving at the bar that I will order in a minute as I logged in to a meeting I was late for. A few minutes in, a rowdy man embarrassingly shouted at me in front of a room full of customers “Have you brought your own drink” pointing at my empty lunch box from earlier during the day. The barmaid, ignoring my point about ordering a drink later, takes the side of the rowdy old man, becomes antagonistic and accuses me of using their wifi. I assured her that I am not using the wifi and am tethering on my phone and that I had told her I would be ordering a drink later. I bought a drink and did not drink it in protest of the two instances of embarrassment and informed her I would reporting this to the manager.

I went outside to continue my work, not taking the drink out of protest, when another member of staff interrupted me mid work and accused me of not ordering a drink. I have asked to speak to her superior as well, where she explained they would say the same. It is clear that this establishment is only welcome to clients abiding by their rules and not to anyone wanting to walk in for other purposes (even if they will be paying customers).

I have left and will not be returning on my usual 4pm slot on the Tuesday. It is a real shame that the pub, when it was completely empty in the summer, was happy for me to sit and finish my workday with 1 drink. But turns around and kicks me out for doing the exact same thing because they clearly have enough customer now. Safe to say I will not be coming back.

He continued to be rowdy and Had a bad experience...