The Beehive – A Hidden Treasure of a local pub in Walworth

The Beehive Pub, Walworth:

Round here we love our bees.  Kennington Park is home to ‘BeeUrban’ – a fabulous community project to protect and develop the bee population of London.  Even Walworth Garden Farm has hives.  And my neighbour, who has the kind of garden I’d love to grow, tells me that she concentrates on cultivating things to try and help bees.  Her old-fashioned cottage garden is full of the sort of flowers my mother used to cherish.  Hollyhocks, love in the mist, roses and honeysuckle.  A rambling prettiness in the heart of London.  I’m not sure whether there’s any connection between the community spirit and the Beehive pub, a community pub.  Other than the fact that both add to the mix of ingredients that make this part of London special.

I found The Beehive on the day I arrived in Walworth.  We’d been packing, driving and then unloading all day – we actually only got the keys at 4.30pm.  So, at 5.00pm, we were both starving and ready to eat anything.  Luckily we didn’t have to do so, The Beehive serves a splendid menu, focused on every variety of burger you could imagine, with a few sharing dishes thrown in for good measure.  On Sundays, you can order from a selection of traditional roast dinners too.

Behind the bar, there is a respectable range of beers on tap including London Pride and Doom.  And, while the wines on offer by the glass are limited, everything I’ve tried so far has been good quality and reasonably priced.  There is also a substantial range of single malt whiskies (around 20 I think).

We ordered the baked camembert, which arrived with a heap of toasted bread, some crudites and cheese crackers.  It was an easily finished if slightly filling starter.

I ordered the Louisiana – a southern spiced chicken burger and was presented with a good sized breast fillet, carefully spiced with cajun seasoning, garnished with a creamy dressing, some salad leaves and tomato and served on a brioche bun.  Delicious comfort food (I’d just finished the race for life 5k!)

Meanwhile Simon’s ‘Marrakesh’ was a homemade lamb burger served with minted yoghurt and harissa in the same kind of brioche bun.

Burgers are all priced at £10-11 and there are vegetarian options too.

We didn’t order dessert – but there is a small selection of dishes on offer including sticky toffee pudding, brownies and  a range of ice creams.

I could quite happily have sat there all evening – there’s a terrace to the front of the Beehive and a small pub garden to the side so in the summer it’s really pleasant.  Inside, The Beehive is comfortably worn-in.

Our meal with two large glasses of wine and two pints of beer was just over £50.  In London, at least, that is excellent value, especially when the food tastes so good.  My only gripe is that The Beehive isn’t open for lunch during the week.

The Beehive Pub
60 Carter Street, Walworth, London SE17 3EW