The Old Nun’s Head

Over the past few years the Old Nun’s Head has become known both locally and further afield as one of the best pubs around. The pub has successfully mixed a good range of beer with friendly staff and attention to detail throughout. Food at the Old Nun’s Head changes by the day and many people remark how good the Sunday Roasts are and not forgetting Burger Bear whose Burgers are well worth the extra few £. My personal favourite being the Grizzly with cheesy chips.
Recently the original owners of the pub who have no doubt played a large part in helping to build up the reputation of the place sold it and now there are new owners. The wide range of mostly locally sourced draft beers have been kept although as some have said before the quality is hit and miss perhaps more so than before. The ability to pay for your drink using bitcoins appears to have gone which is a real shame. Burger Bear is now resident on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday a slight change from before. On a less positive note the gents toilets urgently need some attention with one hand basin only in use and somewhat unexpectedly all tables now have leaflets on them promoting a church meeting each Sunday now being held in the pub. The Old Nun’s Head is still very much a good pub but I fear some of the sparkle and greatness has gone but hopefully not forever.

A pub which does food and is frequented by people with babies. There is beer because it is a pub. Do not give beer to your baby.

one of my locals, friendly staff, good beers and an excellent quiz night. they do some decent food too! burger bear which is great but a bit pricey and a couple of other «pop-​up» style menus. very friendly staff. oh and they take bitcoins which is always a plus?!? right?
oh and games, they have board games. excellent.

This is a great little pub! The staff is very friendly and the service is top notch. The food his always good. The menu is always changing and they keep coming up with fun and interesting ideas.

We’ve just moved to the area and really wanted to like this pub. In fact we visited it about 6 months ago when we first started our flat search and really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and food. The pub is nice looking, serves a decent selection of ales, plays great tunes and most importantly is under 5min stroll from our new flat! We love our pubs — and were both very excited to try our first local.
Unfortunately, we had a pretty dreadful experience on our sunday night visit. The food options were limited, the place was still packed full of loud self important kids running amok, and it was pretty darned chilly! Anyway we struggled through, moved away from the little darlings and persevered by ordering some fodder. The veggie burger turned up and, no joke, it consisted of 3 tiny mushrooms and some slightly warm halloumi! We took it back to the bar and complained about the very sad looking order they apologised and said they would redo my order. After a few mins the burger came back, same sad little mushrooms, same sad slightly warm halloumi. I think we both gave up on this place being our new local at that moment!
Haven’t been back since, and will avoid in the future. Shame but we have found many other fantastic pubs within a very short walk so its not all bad

This is a good pub, with welcoming friendly staff and a good selection of beers at a reasonable price. The food is nothing to write home about, however I can highly recommend the sunday roasts. Overall it is well worth stopping at if you are passing by.

Very
nice looking pub. Not at all what I expected in Peckham! Lots of guest beers to
be found here. I thought the beer I had, called EXP, was very nice.
From my (selfish) point of view it is a bit of a shame that it is so child/​family
friendly as it was a bit tricky to find a quiet corner, away from the bawling
and screaming.

This is a good pub. It’s warm and the bar staff are friendly. The drinks are nice and they have a more than respectable selection of spirits. The food is classic pub fare at reasonable prices.
The interior is dimly lit with shabby old things like chairs and bookcases and tables with chess boards painted on the top.
Any pub that even offers the possibility of chess instantly makes me feel like curling up with a pint in the corner to cuddle an armchair.
In all, the pub makes you feel good to be inside of it. Like a pillow fort, or an old car that smells of wood varnish and that spray on polish with names like ‘Mr Sheen’…

OK, so I live in this area, just around the corner in fact and in my opinion, this pub makes Nunhead a place to stop at in South East London.
The Old Nuns Head truly has carved itself out as the heart of this small community and lays on all sorts of events from ale festivals to karaōke (no bonus for guessing which of those I prefer! ;). They even have a yoga class that is run upstairs in a big hall, but am reliably informed it is run by a sexed up crazy lady — never know though, this could be EXACTLY what you are looking for?!
The place is clean, has a wonderful atmosphere that they work hard to keep relaxed and cosy. The food menu is good, Sunday lunch is actually fantastic and there are even a wide range of board games for you and your mates to get caught up in over a cold one.
The only reason I didn’t give this 5 stars is that they have recently extended the menu from traditional British food (of very healthy proportions) to include a Thai menu which does, I’m disappointed to report, leaves a lot to be desired. However, the Roasts and other traditional foods are still on the menu and still a big hit with me.
Great pub, fantastic building, wonderful bar staff and is a real selling point of the area.
Pop in, you won’t be disappointed!

I regard this pub as my local, even if it’s further away than a number of other pubs in the area. The landlord/​lady are lovely and they’re putting in a huge effort to make the pub a lovely place to be, with events and newsletters and other interesting things. The food is great and there’s a good atmosphere for any number of people.
The upstairs room is also functional, with an aging but acceptable sound system and we’ve used it for a number of events in the past. The lighting is terrible though!

The Old Nun’s head is a great pub. It’s so comfy and chilled out. It’s nice to watch the world go by on the bench outside. Nunhead is a nice mixed place. The Carling extra cold is lovely. I could sit all day on a comfy sofa in there with the sun coming through those lovely windows (or even when it’s raining outside it’s even nicer).
The person that did the décor knows their stuff. Lots of old little things everywhere to look at.
People complain today about the cost of pub beer compared to the supermarket but that has no comparison when you can have a nice pint.
I had some food as well last week. It was superb.
You deserve 5 stars.

My local pub of choice, and while there are two or three pubs nearer to home it’s always worth the ten minute walk up to Nunhead Green for a well-​kept pint and a decent dinner.
A bit of a turn around from a year ago. Managers had lost interest, the beer was barely drinkable and you would only think about ordering food if you were really starving, drunk or more likely a combination of the two.
Happy to report that pretty much everything has been turned around by the new team headed up by Lou and Dan. It’s been a gradual process rather than a quick fix and that’s why I think the good times might be here to stay at The Old Nuns Head.
The décor is cosy and there are some interesting bits of furniture dotted around the spacious drinking/​eating area. Downstairs it’s a three part arrangement with a more relaxed chilling type area to the left of the bar with a real fire, there are three nice «booth» tables immediately in front of the bar and to the right there is a fairly large area with an assortment of old school tables and chairs and another real fire. Lighting is subtle and adjusted to match the mood and time of day.
The pub attracts a very mixed clientele, with plenty of long term residents of Nunhead alongside more obvious newcomers. The solitary drinker will find it a pleasant place to while away an hour but be warned it does get very busy with couples and kids during the day at the weekend. Free wifi means you will normally find a few people surfing with their pint.
Dreaming of the return of summer you have a nice drinking deck area out back and a couple of outside tables at the front of the pub if you want to soak up some rays and watch the locals go by.
Upstairs there is another bar inside a large wood panelled «function» room which is usually pretty well occupied. Easycome have been long term stalwarts with quality country acts on a Wednesday night but we are now also being treated to movies, occasional reggae and Northern Soul nights and ping pong tournaments. Also seems to be a popular space to hire out for a private party.
Beer has been turned round in a major way and much hard work has resulted in the well-​deserved award of the Cask Mark. There are three cask ales which are regularly rotated and chosen with care so there is always something interesting to try out.
Last weekend we had the Xmas Ale Festival with a nice selection of 10 cask ales and 4 ciders. The Brew Dog Paradox was a bit of a stand out and went a little bit too well with a brownie.
Wine is the one area that I think needs really some more attention as it’s a pretty poor selection and we always struggle to find something decent to drink. B usually ends up on the Malbec because there is really nothing worth trying on the white list. It’s by far the best of what’s available by the glass, but given the choice I will usually just stick to the beer. Come on guys get us some good vino, the pub deserves it.
There is an interesting and evolving menu which has the tiny kitchen in mind. Keep an eye out for the specials on the blackboard as they are usually worth a try; I recently had a top notch coq ou vin and B was very complementary about the ravioli with pumpkin and ricotta. Last weekend I had the fish, chips and mushy peas while sampling a few beers at the Ale Festival and it was spot on with crispy batter and just right chips. Special mention must be made of the brownie; slightly crisp on the outside with a soft, almost oozing centre which delivers an intense chocolate kick .
At the weekend there is a good brunch selection and the Sunday roast for a tenner with a choice of chicken, beef or pork served with all the trimmings is very well cooked and presented with a bit of thought.
Although not trying to be a gastro pub The Old Nuns Head is turning out some very tasty food, with well sourced ingredients, at reasonable prices and for that, and a very decent pint, I salute you.
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Has had a recent makeover by a new couple running the pub and is much more appealing for it — cosy but quirky seems to be the style.
Ale seems to be looked after with more care — the pint of Flying Dutchman I’m enjoying is crystal clear with a good head. Very tasty.
Food choice looks good and no doubt I will post my thoughts later.
⁷⁄₁₀. Things are looking up in Nunhead.

If anyone ventures south of the river they MUST visit this pub. The staff are very sociable. The drinkers are very friendly. The food is of good quality– usually organic and/​or seasonal produce. The old nun also serves various beers, wines and cocktails. The setting is relaxing (candles light every table) with a fireplace and the seating VERY comfy. The music really suits the atmosphere. It is ideal for a quiet after work drink, social gathering or even a first date. Whenever I go here I always feel welcome and so will you. Don’t forget to order the chocolate brownies for dessert.

I had such a lovely evening here the other night — my husband and I sat by the heater on a cosy little table for two in the corner and drank really good cider and ate really good hot food. I had the steak pie and chips which was truly delicious, and piping hot. I also remember they do an amazing chocolate brownie dessert too. The tables are all candle lit in the evening so it’s very atmospheric, and round the other side of the pub is a TV for sports watchers. A great place, especially for a meal out with friends or your other half.

noego is right, a great pub that has rejuvenated this corner of Nunhead. It’s a sister pub to the Gowlett Arms in East Dulwich. Like that pub, this one majors on food and decent ales.
The service is always friendly. You can see the food being cooked, the menu changes according to seasonality and availability so you know the food is fresh (not Sainsbury’s third-​rate prepared convenience muck).
It’s lively but also civilised — just as great for young families as for older couples, or groups of friends or singles wanting a good night out. In short, something for everyone.

Recently converted 1930s pub, The Old Nun’s Head is a friendly pub located in the heart of Nunhead. Local artwork on the nicely crafted wooden walls, traditional pub food and good selection of drinks available.
Friendly service from the predominantly young barstaff and a widescreen TV for football and the like.
Ales can sometimes taste a bit off, but apart from that, a good all-​round pub. Plus, there’s a function room upstairs with live music every Wednesday and host to other locally oriented group meetings.