I’m quite conscious of the fact that there isn’t enough about Blackheath Royal Standard (the place, not the pub) on this site… The main reason is because it takes me ages to get there, unless I’m on the bus, when I’m usually heading for the delights of Sainsbury’s or Lidl. For a while the brilliantly named Hi, Standard blog looked like it would be doing the business, but it hasn’t been updated for a while.
Anyway, at Mrs Bugle’s suggestion, we ventured into the unknown, and headed for Blackheath Royal Standard (the pub not the place) last night.
My overriding sense was that it is a bit of a chilly pub… Maybe we just found some draughty seats, but I felt like I couldn’t get warm in there! The barman was friendly enough, and the pint of Pride was good (they also do ESB and Bombardier at the moment). Mrs Bugle had a glass of Chilean Merlot which received no complaints.
But the place felt a bit depressing. I have a problem with football on in pubs at the best of times… I don’t know why, it just always seems to spoil a pub. And the place was full of fruit machines, and electronic quiz machines flashing and glaring at the punters. The food looked harmless – nothing amazing, but what you’d expect from a town boozer kind of pub – chips, burgers, etc. I bet they do vegetable lasagna for the vegetarians… If there are any vegetarians… The way that stags head was staring at me from its mounting on the wall, I’m not sure that this is the place for veggies…
It looks like it has been done up fairly recently, but as though the customers chose not to notice – weird bits of tin stuck to the ceiling, and overstuffed green leather sofas – the description on their facebook page demonstrates the slightly misguided direction that the pub has gone for:
Inside, the sophisticated décor resembles that of a classy gentleman’s club. With a ‘tin’ ceiling and an eclectic mix of furnishings including big chesterfield seats, this more upmarket, open plan site is ideal for enjoying a drink alone or with friends, or some fantastic food.
As one of the commentators on the page said “who wants tables instead of pool tables?” As soon as I walked in, I thought “this looks like the sort of pub that will have a pool table somewhere”. Clearly it used to have them – it’s that kind of place… And it would be great with a couple of tables for pool, a jukebox, no telly on, and maybe selling some pasties, this place would be just great, instead of trying to be something it isn’t.
Other points of interest:
Free wifi (for the geeks, although I didn’t see any)… It’s passworded though.
Quiz nights on Sundays at 9pm, entrance is £1. Anyone ever tried this?
Oh, and Aspall cider, which is always a nice surprise.
The Blackheath Bugle’s Google Map here.
Contact Info
020 8858 1533
44 Vanbrugh Park, Blackheath, London, SE3 7JQ
Licensed under a 
The Blackheath Bugle 
The Standard used to be pretty grim, and has always felt a bit like drinking in Bexleyheath rather than Blackheath. It’s not so bad now – a decent place to watch football – but Fruli aside, the beers are a bit rubbish and it’s one of those places where they play crap dance music at a level where the bar staff can hear it, but it obliterates your mind if you’re a customer…
Oh, and there’s the spot at the bar which always catches a waft of piss from the gents’. Not such an easy one to fix, that.
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Absolutely awfull place! Make no mistake guys, never eat or drink in this pub!
A place which has a black bag over one of the toilets for over a year because it leaks should be closed down, there’s also the issue of the disabled toilet being fitted with 2 locks, so if you do have a standard radar key, you won’t gain access anyway, and if you do, there’s never any toilet roll in there and from what I remember, it lacks a bin.
As for the bar staff, rweally not worth a mention, don’t interacrt with these guys, they don’t have a brain cell between them, well, the only one who does is the australian guy.
Finally, food;
Well, I’ve never seen a hunter’s chicken come up so quickly, one minute, my ex was eating it, the next, it was coming back up, all over my bathroom floor, but I suppose that’s what happens if it’s undercooked. Score out of 10? definatly minus 100!
Wow, you sound like a barrel of laughs. Being the Fosters drinker that you sound like the Standard has one of the best real ale line ups around. I don’t know of a pub in the area that serves such a different range of very well kept ales. The food is your typical pub range with the exception of the Sunday roast with its excellent gravey. Ex girlfriend????????? And the guy was from newzeland?!! Best you stay at your local, maybe you’ll find the next mrs miserable.!!