The Ivy House

Formerly a Truman’s pub, this 1930s Grade II-listed Peckham boozer deserves a special mention. Re-opened in autumn 2013 as the capital’s first co-operatively owned free house, it’s a re-born social hub listed under the Localism Act as an Asset of Community Value – a phenomenon we hope to see replicated elsewhere. London craft ales worth contemplating might include beers from the Brockley Brewery, Belleville of Balham, Bermondsey’s Partizan and London Fields, with foreign interest from America, the Czech Republic and Belgium. There’s a good selection of accessibly priced wines and comfort food too: choose from steak and chips, various pies with mash, peas and gravy, burgers, pizzas, nachos and so on. Otherwise, head to the pub’s formal music/function room for live jazz, French bands, stand-up comedy, jive sessions and yoga classes.