Just a few pics from last night's opening session at
The Gantry,
Brockley's newest bar and a very welcome addition to the station zone.
Moving kitchen operations to one of the warren of rooms downstairs has opened up a very pleasant bar area on the ground floor. Access is via a new door at the furthest end from the station (don't try to use the old one) and on warmer nights – last night just about qualified – the other patio doors open out onto a outside drinking/smoking area. The rest of the layout, including the conservatory and garden, is unchanged from TM2 (apart from the new kitchen), but has benefited enormously from the refurb.
There were lots of staff monitoring the further outposts last night – some additional experienced help has sensibly called in for the opening – and they were unfailingly friendly, helpful and coping very well with a pretty busy debut night. Brockley has clearly been looking forward to this opening.
They sell booze. Samual Adams and Asahi on tap. More beer by the bottle and a shortish but varied wine list with plenty by the glass and carafe. Cocktails will be available when things settle down a bit but even last night the odd Mai Tai was in evidence.
The main food menu doesn't kick in till next week but, on the evidence of a limited selection of bar snacks, we're in for a treat. Really good pork belly with a mustard dip, crispy crudités with a feta dip (the only veggie option at the moment) and this rich duck confit in the tiniest kilner jars known to humanity. There were also sardine fritters, the ubiquitous sliders and a few other tasty-looking morsels.
Brockley Central is looking forward to seeing what else the kitchen can offer and can also predict many an unscheduled after-work visit. Despite the rather confusing advice the business card seems to be offering, however, we won't be going there by cab.
