The Rising SE1 — Restaurant in London

🚇 Elephant & Castle 🍺 £4.40 Heineken ❤️ A proper London locals boozer. . The Rising Sun is located on Harper Road on the edge of the Rockingham Estate near Elephant & Castle. The nearest Tube is Elephant & Castle which is a eight minute walk away. . This pub was built in 1938 and is the last remaining pub on the Rockingham Estate. The Royal Standard, The Uxbridge Arms and The William IV have all gone, the development vultures wanted to knock The Rising Sun down and build a six storey block of flats in its place, thankfully Southwark Council put the kibosh on the idea, meaning this pub is now an asset of community value (ACV), great news. . This is a clean and tidy no frills pub that is simply decorated. At the centre of the bar is a horseshoe shaped servery that has s solid wooden counter. There is plenty of seating around the pub, most punters sat on the stools that surrounded the bar. Around the walls are framed football shirts, a jukebox and a dartboard if you fancy a game or arrows. On the left of the bar is a pool table, behind that is a stage when the pub has disco’s, live music and functions. . The beer choice was straightforward and inexpensive, I had a pint of Heineken, my pint hit the spot and cost just over a four spot. There is no food here but plenty of crisps and nuts to keep you going. . I arrived just after 3pm on a Saturday and the atmosphere was chilled and relaxed. I was served who I presume was the Landlady, we had a bit of banter about paying cash instead of card, I felt very welcome. There were about six punters in when I arrived, an old fella was studying the form, another lady was having chat with the regulars at the bar and a couple of lads were playing pool, everyone new everyone. . As I left the pub, I got talking to a Father and Son who have been regulars here for years. They told me about the amount of pubs that have closed in the area and their concerns about new generations supporting and frequenting The Rising Sun. . If you’re ever in the area, work close by or just interested in pubs, why not pop in here for a few drinks and enjoy a proper London locals boozer. . ℹ️ Info...

I was hesitant to leave this because I’m always worried about backlash, but I think the general quality of the staff has gone down hill.

My friend and I went on Tuesday, April 29th for boardgames and the bartender was snapping at people. This has happened the last couple times we’ve been there and we see it happening to others. It’s off-putting. On the one hand yes there’s no excuse, and that needs to be reeled in, but my advice to the bar is to be supporting their staff.

You’ve let good and more senior/experienced people go and had a mass turnover. I felt sorry for that bartender working that night because I can see certain bartenders carrying the bar and young people (or anyone) being overwhelmed. There should’ve been more people working and not someone young left as the main bartender.

My family and friends and I came yesterday May 3rd and my friends complained about the toilets not being cleaned. It was all three. In addition, the bartender working at opening had to set up all the tables on his own and that’s no easy task.

You’ll always be popular, this is London, but I mean, there’s a bunch of venues in elephant park across the street that you now must compete with, and I’d like to see this become another Soho bat. Put some money into your toilets, it’s time, because the group of women I brought could not hack it. (Big shout out to the bartender that went and cleaned the toilet when the group of women mentioned it).

Please go out and bring back some of the old staff and management with more experience to help the current team otherwise the good staff will keep...

Came here a lot when it first opened to support a new pub with a great gay space for the community. We all loved it and made it a regular haunt. But it’s since gone downhill to the point we only go as a last resort. The chill gay vibe that was there originally has turned into a militant one, actually making it not inclusive for everyone.

The bar staff are very curt and rude, there’s been a high turnover of staff and now they have an inexperienced team who just seem hell bent on pushing agendas instead of pulling pints with skill and a smile. They used to accept cash and now it’s card only, again going against inclusive values. And the beers have gone up quite a bit! With other spaces opening in the area that offer a lot more, I hope the rising changes its ways before another closed down sign is put...