The Crooked Well

Friendly and attentive staff, very good food and interesting surroundings. I’ll be back…

So delicious! I can’t even begin! Our friends who live across the street come here weekly so when we came to town they brought us over. Great cocktails, great wine, beautiful ambiance and the food is to die for! The staff was so welcoming and everyone was super nice. You kind of felt like you were having a big dinner party at home. I wish we lived in London so I could eat here again!

Another great gem in Camberwell tucked away off the Green. They have great offers on a daily basis. Food is excellent quality and yummy. Service professional. Nice bar with a good selection of wines.

Had a long cycle ride out to Richmond park on a beautiful sunny Sunday and was fiending for a good meal so figured I would finally get around to trying the Crooked Well’s Sunday roast. Something along the lines of appetizer+roast beef+dessert
The meal was fairly decent, particularly on the preparation and ingredients. The standout of the meal was the strawberry shortcake garnished with shaved mint leaves for dessert, and it didn’t hurt that the prices were reasonable for such a big meal.
Probably four stars are deserved based on the food and price; however, the service was a bit cold and unfriendly (no introducing daily dishes, no explanation of menu, specials or soup of the day, didn’t ask if coffee would be required after meal etc.) so that knocked off a star. Will give this restaurant another try at some point and see if things turn out better.

A great, bright pub to enjoy a drink and a meal at, for an admittedly higher price than I’m used to! But my mum came from the States so we had to go out of budget at least once.
We came here for lunch and both had steaks — super tasty, though the ribeye is much better than the picanha. The café de Paris butter that it came with was delicious, though my mum wasn’t a huge fan. Thankfully it’s on the side, or you can choose green peppercorn sauce. We both also had mash with garlic confit and it was so super good! Super buttery and garlicky. I personally prefer my mash more chunky and with skin but smooth seems to be how everyone does it — sad for me. We also partook in an order of the olives, which also came with some bread, butter, and oil and balsamic. Really nice to start off the meal!
My mum’s steak sadly came out under-​cooked but once we let the server know they took it and brought it back quickly and it was perfect. Speaking of the servers, they were pretty decent, nothing to write home about but also quick once you got their attention.
Make sure you check in on the Unilocal app when you’re here because at the time of writing they have an offer to get a free glass of house wine with a main! The house red was very nice, especially since it was free.

Great atmosphere and really chilled out design, waiting staff was friendly and helpful plus the free glass of wine with Unilocal check in is a great added benefit. We had the Sunday roast for two which was very tasty and also ecstatically pleasing served on a chopping board. Maybe the only down side was the price but it’s still not too bad. :)

Seems like a brilliant ambiance when you enter! Staff very welcoming and beer selection seems great! I’m not here for food so won’t be able to comment! But yes they have the meantime lager!
I came here on a Sunday and they do host brilliant local bands to play some classy music! Food looks a tad too expensive but I’m going to try before I add value!

Was reminded today of this place. my mouth watered at the memory of the roast chicken we’d had. I have never been disappointed by the food here. And the staff are amazing… so amazing that my husband & I actually asked the owners how they manage to get & keep such great people. Love the atmosphere, love the food, love the people. Can’t wait to get back.

The Crooked Well is a pleasant enough pub, tucked away from the traffic of Camberwell Church Street. Its food is reasonable, its beer selection lacking and its service pretty good overall.
We were here for the Sunday roast, after its identification as having one London’s best such roasts. I really don’t think it’s that good: above average, maybe, but nowhere near the heights of the Ship in Wandsworth, the Antelope in Tooting Broadway or Hawksmoor. The best bits were the potatoes, but only after new ones had been brought out straight from the oven — crispy, and with hints of rosemary. The vegetables were better than usual too: well-​cooked greens and baby carrots. The roast beef was a bit tough but again, slightly above average.
On the other hand its beer selection appears completely unaffected by the craft beer revolution (just Doom Bar for ale lovers and Amstell for lager fans). These days that’s something of a rarity and not something I really welcomed on a hot Sunday. The house white (a glass of which can be had for free when checking in) wasn’t bad though.
Afterwards we plumped for pudding, the salted caramel brownie being the pick of the bunch.
A perfectly pleasant place to grab Sunday lunch.

Really nice décor and the service was pleasant. I just felt the menu was a little tired and overpriced for what it was. Very traditional but without anything standout.
Polenta? nah not for me.
The wine list was decent but expensive.
That being said it was a Monday and very quiet. Good location and I’ll come back to try it out again.

Recently went to the acclaimed spotted pig in manhattan, NY’s acclaimed gastropub and this place is on par and even better in many ways.
Outside there is bench seating, which is quite pleasant on a summer evening. On the left as you enter there is a relaxed bar area where you can eat if the restaurant is full.
On the right is the main restaurant with a modern, clean aesthetic. Great, limited banquette seating was my preference but there is good spacing throughout, unlike the pig where you sit on your neighbour for a little frontage action.
Short, clear, little wine list with a fair selection by the glass.
Compact menu with some interesting choices, so naturally went for some double pork action.
Pork belly with apples, watercress, ginger balsamic sauce and nuts was magic.
The mains were apparently a pata negra with a bortolli tomato ragout, which was more of a stew. Not sure it was a pata nEgra in te traditional sense but was very enjoyable.
The king of this castle was the chocolate Pudding with Chantelle cream and Carmel ice cream. Forget the plain title, this is more of a ganache and absolutely sublime.
Finally camberwell is in the Michelin guide as a place to eat. Could it get it’s first star?

The crocked well situated half way between elegant Camberwell grove and gritty Camberwell Green the gastro pub bar reflects its location well offering a taste of the elegant all set in a urban modern environment. Frequented by a mix of well healed locals, eccentric regulars and local students the bar serves up a classy mix of modern English food and a well researched wine list. The pub specialises is sharing plates perfect for a candlelit date and the jazz trio on Sunday evenings is a real treat for the south east, move over Ronies!

Camberwell is generating some great businesses and this pub/​restaurant is certainly one of the best around. Just off the main road and not too far a walk from Denmark Hill station, this is the only business I know of that will actually convince friends in North London to venture South of the river, and I can see why.
The whole space has been opened up into one pretty large space but with some very clever decorating, each little section of the room feels unique, separate, cosy and quite luxurious really (for a ‘pub’).
The menu is a refreshing mix of traditional classics with a twist that make good use of British produce without it sounding like ‘fish and chips’ and ‘pie and mash’. The presentation does it all justice too, looks great but not too fancy — this is still a ‘pub’ after all… right?
We had the bacon and rabbit pie for 2, brilliant dish and extremely tasty. The waiting staff were welcoming but not overly formal and the fact there was no loud music or drunken ‘locals’ at the bar made for a perfect evening with a reasonably priced good quality dinner.
Love this place, I’ll be back!

Who ever said the British couldn’t eat? They were wrong. The Crooked Well is a fantastic dinner spot easily competitive with my favorite bistros in the United States.
Had a lovely meal here last night and everything we ate was perfectly prepared: a beet tart, sauteed curly kale. I’m not sure how the cooks managed it but we got a fried squid appetizer that was a pretty fabulous blend of non-​greasy but also crispy and fried. The steak special was melt-​in-​your-​mouth delicious.
Dessert: baked alaska and a warm chocolate pudding with salted caramel ice cream.
The inside of the restaurants looks exactly like what Anthropologie is trying to be, except it’s real.
It’s not on the most beaten of London paths, but it’s worth the trek! By the time we left at 9:30 every table was full, so I recommend getting there a little earlier than that.

I guess, in that cliché kind of way, it’s a blessing and a curse that The Crooked Well is hidden away in Camberwell — I highly doubt that unless you live here, you’ll be trekking out to try this lovely little gem (Denmark Hill is the closest station). All decked out in gastropub chic in warm wood, delicate blues, cheerful orange and intricately patterned walls, TCW is a pretty and cosy little place. Jars of colourful, pickled things add a homely touch. And everything is served so beautifully — was tempted in asking to actually buy a plate off them!
I had a super warming (it was stupidly cold that day) and tasty cauliflower soup as a starter with a curried egg side dish (the sweet and bubbly waitress breathlessly quipped, ‘it works, it really works’), while my friend had the excellent beetroot and goat’s curd tart with toasted pumpkin seeds — delicious. Crispy tart, caramelised sweetness and the lovely crunch of the pumpkin seeds. We sort of looked at each other and silently agreed that we had a good feeling about this place.
For the main, I chose the sinfully juicy pork belly with a side of kale and pomme frites. My friend ordered the rainbow trout which I completely ignored as I couldn’t keep my eyes and fork off my own plate. Attempting to keep my alcohol intake level at zero, I opted for something called Ginger Alert (nonalcoholic, fresh cranberries, lemon juice, ginger ale and fresh ginger) which was refreshing and yet fiery, from all the roughly chopped ginger.
Desserts continued with high standards — the homemade cinnamon ice cream and walnut and pecan tart was well worth secretly loosening a few buttons on my jeans for.
I get the feeling this place will go from strength to strength (sounds like they’ve got an impressive background — names like Petrus, Le Gavroche, Sam’s Brasserie and Babylon are sprinkled across the board), the staff care and take pride in their work and there are whispers about it in the foodie world, so get in there. So lovely.

The Crooked Well is all things a brilliant gastropub should be… and then some.
Featuring a grand open space with a proper pub bar/​lounge area –and– an adjacent offset dining room, mouthwatering food, plus a respectable classic cocktail program, this establishment screams, ‘Come south of the river!’ to me.
Our soup of the day starter, made with cauliflower, was much less impressive than I’d expected, especially after having a friend’s homemade version very recently that was much more flavourful. However, the smoked salmon dish was every bit a satisfying and savoury way to launch into a meal.
… and what a meal it was! We hemmed and hawed over the roast lamb for two or the rabbit and bacon pie for two and were swayed by our server’s recommendation for the pie. (Plus, it was absurdly frigid outside, which just begs for carbohydrate abuse.) Eventually, a pie the size of my head came out, along with the crispy kale and creamy mash sides we ordered. Take a gander at the photo. I think I need say no more.
Not to be outdone, the boy let me have my dessert of choice: a massive cheese plate, featuring a brilliant shaved bleu, a Lancashire bomb, and a creamy thymed goats cheese. Kitty (I assume that’s our server’s name, since that’s what was printed on our receipt) was thoughtful enough to offer us some extra crackers, which we made good use of.
Along with our meal, I partook liberally of the libations offered by the bomb bartender. My Vieux Carré was easily as good as I could have come up with at home, and the Sazerac that followed kept me mostly warm on our way to the bus stop, a few minutes away. I will note that I found the Sazerac to be unusually heavy on the absinthe, both on the nose and on the palate, but not unpleasant by any means.
I did inquire whether or not this joint was frequently mostly by locals, or if it was a destination for dining, to which Kitty replied that it was a solid mix of both. Apparently in the seven months (only!) since they’ve been in operation, their name has quite rapidly spread.
Ergo, my final recommendation: get in here whilst you can. A booking during prime dining hours is a good idea, though we were readily able to snag a table for two around 1930 on a Thursday. The remaining seats rapidly filled up. Have yourself a cocktail, and settle in for a hearty feast.

I had walked past this quite new venue a few times so had to pop in for a drink as have been hearing good things! It’s got a great atmosphere, really nice staff and is a very welcome addition to the growing list of excellent pubs in Camberwell. More of a restaurant than standard pub and the menu (filled with solid British dishes) looks delicious so will definitely be heading back here soon to sample

We wandered over to The Crooked Well a couple of Sundays ago as part of our old pal Esther’s birthday celebrations and we had a very fine lunchtime feast indeed.
We had heard many good things about this latest addition to the ever growing Camberwell food offering and as we strolled down Grove Lane towards the pub the signs were auspicious; every outside table was full of happy punters chowing down on some very good looking food.
Entering The Crooked Well you have a nice chilled area on the left which is good for lounging, snacking and reading the papers with a more formal dining area on the right. I have visited this venue in many of its various formats over the past decade and the current owners have finally done the building proud, with a lovely relaxed but stylish interior combined with comfy furnishings.
After a quick drink at the bar, not a great deal of choice if cask ale is your thing but my Doom Bar had been well looked after and was the right temperature, we were shown to our handsome looking table for five. The menu is shortish and nicely balanced with a few classics and a couple of interesting dishes designed for sharing. The very stylish ladies at the table next to us were having the roast chicken which came as a dish for two; it looked divine with an aroma to match. Fortunately, before we got too carried away our very charming waiter informed us that the chicken was now finished for the day. No matter as there was plenty of good stuff left on offer.
I shared the rabbit and bacon pie with B which we matched up with a side order of greens and a few chips for good measure. Oh my lord it was a very, very tasty pie succulent well flavoured meat, a rich gravy and a crispy puff pastry hat on top. This was a pie to savour and despite it being a big old portion we devoured every last mouthful with glee. Tory Boy had the roast beef which looked like it had been cooked to perfection and he declared himself well pleased with his selection. Esther and Carmen both had the fish and chips which also seemed to hit the spot.
The dessert menu looked so good that it was difficult to resist. Esther raved about the bitter chocolate tart which came with some lovely ripe figs and a scoop of vanilla ice cream while Carmen demolished a crème brûlée with shortbread at the other end of the table. I teamed up with Tory Boy for an assault on the cheese board; there was a great selection to choose from at £2 per cheese and I was very happy to spot the wonderful Plaisir au Chablis which made for a great end to the meal.
The wine list at The Crooked Well is well put together with plenty to choose from around the £20 mark. I like the idea that all of the wines are available as a small flask gives you the opportunity to match up a few selections with your food without breaking the bank or ruining your liver.
Before we left I had a quick peak at the upstairs room which looked like it had lots of potential and would make a fine spot for a party or a private supper club. We are already looking forward to a return visit.

I’ve talked before on my blog about the difficulty of the Restaurant of Death. That sad spot repeatedly filled with restaurateur after restaurateur desperately trying to work with a location that no one ever seems to go to. The Crooked Well is definitely in one of these, or rather has been. In recent incarnations it’s been a Parisian café, a local pub and a trendy cocktail bar, and that’s just the last two years.
The stripped back aesthetic, necessary to remove layers of paint from so many recent refurbs, is both understandable and sympathetic and the new owners have done a fair amount with the look. Currently, comfortable wooden chairs and pre-​laid tables occupy most of the old boozer. There are a few sofas, but this is a restaurant that you feel comfortable having a drink in, rather than a pub. In short, the refurb works pretty well.
A cheerfully chippy website describes the story of four friends settling on a pub to share and show their passion for great food, the kind of guff that so often ends up being a marketing line, here I’m fairly sure it’s not. The service shows this, on our Wednesday night visit it’s friendly, relaxed and assured.
Elsewhere on the website they talk about an obsession with British food, in actuality a loose descriptor for modern gastro style dishes, a loose concatenation of rustic, European influences. Starters, generally around the £7/​8 mark include smoked salmon, pork belly (with an intriguing tuna crème fresche) and squid ink risotto. On first visit we didn’t sample any of them, though I was sorely tempted by duck confit and a chicken terrine served with a mango salsa.
Following beers from a reasonable selection, we went for the house special, a shared rabbit and bacon pie with a side of greens. Thankfully there’s no effort to sell up either on the reasonably priced menu or wine list, and along with an enormous fluffy puff of pastry crust, the buttery, wilted greens are more than adequate. Underneath the fresh baked crust there’s almost more filling than we can cope with. At least a rabbit’s worth of meat, slow cooked to melting point with just enough bacon to give the rich flavour it a salty smoky overcoat.
Stuffed and struggling after finishing the braised bunny, the atmosphere’s enough to keep us for a coffee, though neither of us have enough room for puds. I could possibly have had a go on their cheeseboard, £2 a lump with some really interesting suggestions. Next time though, and there will be a next time. I think this place is a stayer.