St James of Bermondsey — Restaurant in London

Depends who's working when you go in. They've got good beer and some quality wing back chairs if you're lucky enough to grab them.... however...

On my most recent visit I was stood at the bar waiting to be served. When the girl behind the bar had finished with the previous customer she just walked off and started moving glasses around. She looked at me at least twice and ignored me... When she did eventually find the time to serve me I'm pretty sure she didn't actually utter a single word, except the price which of course wasn't accompanied by a "please..."

I could forgive that if it wasn't for the fact that we were then turfed out pretty abruptly at 11pm. I don't know the official opening hours but that certainly doesn't tally with what's listed here. And even if it did, to have all the lights turn off completely and be left in the dark is a pretty disgusting way of getting people out of your pub (never mind the potential health and safety issue... I'm annoyed I didn't take the opportunity to 'fall over' to be honest.) I wouldn't be surprised if the girl mentioned earlier just wanted to go home early.

EDIT Seems to be under new ownership and has improved dramatically. Bearded man...

Update may 2023 Came back for pizza and wine. The pizza was 4/10, dough pretty bland (did not resemble sourdough on menu), heavy on the mozzarella (no cheddar despite menu saying), minimal tomato sauce. They advertised it with toppings they didn't have (Rocket, beef and tomatoes), and didn't say anything as we got our half-topped pizzas. After we mentioned this, they apologized but offered nothing instead (I asked for extra basil and we got a few extra leaves). Afterwards, we wanted to get a pint and was told the cheapest was £6.25, which is a lot for the area so went home. For £15 a head, definitely not better than getting a bottle of wine and 2 cheap pizzas from a shop. Definitely not rushing back here despite it being our closest pub as we have left disappointed for the second time.

In 2021 Went for pie and pint. The pie was tough pastry not puff pastry but the filling was yummy. Mash was bland and gravy thin and oily. Food took an hour to come to the table, pint took 20 mins. Customer service was mixed, some kind staff and some quite grumpy. Will give another...

Disinterested and rude staff that sat on stools behind the bar staring intently at their phones uncaring if there were customers waiting or not. The bar 'manager' with short bleached hair managed to serve me without saying a single word or making any eye contact whatever - the only communication was her tapping on the card machine screen to demand payment. They turned the music off at 7.30pm and the heating too! Seemed all the staff wanted to do on a Sunday night was socialise via their phones and force us paying customers out so they could finish early. Shame as this could be a nice pub if a proper manager was employed that focused on their customer's requirements and not their own. Who wants to sit in a freezing cold pub with diabolical frosty service? The owners should walk up the road and have a look at their packed competition and ask themselves why all the locals are there instead of in their...