The Phoenix — Restaurant in London

Last Sunday (October 6), friends booked the upstairs gallery in the Phoenix for a party of fifteen to celebrate their son’s 21st birthday. We were treated to a performance of such staggering ineptitude that it surpassed virtually anything I have seen in any pub, anywhere. The mother of the birthday boy had booked for fifteen for lunch in advance, and, concerned about the vagueness of the person with whom she had booked, had reconfirmed the booking that very morning. She was not, it's important to note, asked to provide any details of the food required. We all gathered in the upstairs gallery and chose our food from the menu (somewhat comically, the very battered menu covers read “Merry Christmas and a happy new year", which is indicative of the organizational standard in the establishment) and our friend went down to the bar to order. She returned shortly to tell us that the pub was completely out of roasts apart from, I think, two plates of roast chicken. As at least ten of our party had ordered roasts, this was something of a disappointment to say the least. The explanation given was "We had a lot of people ordering roasts earlier so we've run out." One assumes the pub must've been a lot more full earlier, as there were only about a dozen customers, not including our party, when we went in at 2 PM. Two points: firstly, order and prepare enough food for the maximum number of potential customers you would expect, and secondly, when you have a party of fifteen coming to lunch, make sure you keep enough food back to actually supply them with lunch. Not rocket science, really. However, we were told that the vegetarian nut roast was still available, and for the meat eaters they could either have steak or burgers. We asked if at least we could enjoy part of the Sunday roast experience by having some roast potatoes with our food. Oh no, they’d run out of roast potatoes as well, you can only have chips. By this time it was no surprise to find that the service was comically inept, with a good twenty minutes elapsing between the service of the first meal and the last, so that those who were served first had finished their meals long before others had even begun. The service was further enlivened by such little touches as the server bringing the meals but neglecting to provide any cutlery, not providing any condiments or seasonings until asked and so forth (to be fair he was very polite and apologetic). As a side note, it was interesting to see when I went down to the bar to get more drinks that one of the bar staff was on a break and having her lunch. A little tip to the managers: if you’ve told your paying clientele that no roasts are available, it's not a good look to have a member of staff tucking in to a very substantial roast, complete with roast potatoes, at the bar. In fairness to the management, they did give a very substantial discount on the price of the meal when we left. However, this did not compensate for the disappointment experienced by a party who had chosen this establishment specifically to enjoy a Sunday roast booking the venue in advance. Trying to sort out the mess caused by the spectacular ineptitude on show caused significant aggravation for my friends who had to rush up and down the stairs trying to negotiate a way we could all get an acceptable lunch on a day when they should have been able to relax and enjoy the special occasion with their son.With the spectacular premises and prime location this pub enjoys, it should be one of the most popular in South London. The fact that by the time we left at around 4 PM there were only a handful of customers remaining in the bar spoke volumes. If the management of this establishment can't cope with the most basic rudiments of the industry, it's high time they gave it up to someone who can so that the pub can become once again, as it was in the Firkin days, a treasured and valuable community asset, rather than what it is now, which is frankly an...

🚇 Denmark Hill 🍺 £7.55 Prime Time IPA

The Phoenix is located in Denmark Hill, at the southern end of Camberwell in South London. The nearest station is Denmark Hill.

Originally built as the ticket hall serving Denmark Hill railway station, the building was constructed in 1866 and is now Grade II listed. It functioned as a ticket hall for over a century before being severely damaged in a fire in 1980. After an extensive restoration, the pub opened in July 1984 — a phoenix from the flames.

This is a unique, bright, and airy one-bar pub that combines Victorian splendour with modern, contemporary touches. The main bar area features a centrally located servery that stretches the length of the room. Just off the main bar is a dining area with traditional tables and chairs. To the right of the main bar, a spiral staircase leads up to a mezzanine level with a relaxed, chill-out atmosphere. The decor includes a huge vaulted ceiling, exposed brickwork, stunning arched windows, and a vintage station clock. At the front of the pub, the old station benches offer a place to perch as the trains rumble below.

The beer selection is impressive, offering a diverse mix of mainstream and independent brewery beers, including three cask ales. I opted for a Prime Time IPA — my pint was excellent, but very expensive. The food offering is classic pub grub; fish and chips cost £18.50, roasts are available on Sunday’s.

I arrived just after 5 p.m. on a sunny May afternoon to watch the second half of the FA Cup. The pub was busy throughout, with everyone glued to the screens around the bar. The atmosphere was upbeat and lively, thanks to Palace being 1–0 up. The service was first-class; I managed to have a quick chat with one of the management team, who was the consummate host.

I really enjoyed my time at The Phoenix — the crowd was great, and the atmosphere was buzzing. The beer selection is broad enough to please all tastes, and the service was spot on. Not only is this a fine example of Victorian railway architecture, but it’s also a cracking pub.

Follow @thephoenixdenmarkhill for updates.

📅 17th May 2025

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Absolutely horrendous service, would not return and would definitely not recommend. Our company had booked for 'FOOD AND DRINK' for our Christmas party, there were 9 of us. We arrived for our 1 o'clock booking a bit early, around 12:30, the first thing we were told was ' you can't put your food orders in until 1 o'clock', we had no problem with this we understood we were early for our booking so we ordered our drinks- but bare in mind that the pub was not busy, there were two other tables of around 8 guests, it looked as though they were having Christmas parties too. At 1.10 we went to the bar to order our food, we were told again that we were not able to put in our food order, again in a rather rude and abrupt manner. We then asked when we would be likely to be able to put through food, because we had an activity booked for after . The bar staff shrugged, we asked to speak with the manager, the bar staff went to get her and the manager had said ' I'm too busy to talk to them' , we then asked the bar staff if she could ask the manager when she would expect to be able to let us know, to which the bar staff replied 'this is a bit pointless I'm just going to be going back and fourth'... We had no option but to pay for our drinks tab and leave- the shocking attitude from your staff and even manager was definitely not called for, we wouldn't expect to be treated like that as paying customers... especially when we had specified on our booking that we would require FOOD AND DRINK, why accept a booking if your kitchen staff and bar staff are unable to handle it. We understand that unforeseen circumstances can occur, for example being short staffed in the kitchen but the way that your staff handle these situations have a massive impact on how the customers feel. Perhaps staff need a reminder that they should always speak to customers in a polite and professional manner, and should simply just apologise when...