Bird’s Nest Bar and Hostel

One of my favourite pubs in the area. Won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but there is a really good mix of people, great bar staff and there are often good bands playing. The beer is well kept and although it’s very expensive for the area at four pounds a pint, there is a good happy hour when they’re two fifty. Rough ready and rockin. They’ve also got an art gallery at the back and an old routemaster serving tasty pizzas next door. Seeing as how so many old deptford pubs have shut down its a relief to see this still going.

Upside down newspaper clippings on the wall, ancient carpet and toilets that leave a bit to be desired. BUT it’s got a good vibe and has a very mixed crowd. Sone nights it’s über cool kids and other nights it’s parents in slightly dated, too tight outfits on their monthly ‘night out’. But bar staff are very friendly and they serve a wide range of drink– including the hard to find koppaberg elderflower & lime. Overall, pretty pleased this is my local.

Strange place this. What appears to be a little local dive is surprisingly not. Young and friendly bar staff make the normally quiet bar area un-​awkward and chilled whilst a strange mix of creative types from the Creek, old regulars and a few hipster students from the nearby Goldsmiths College hang out around the brightly lit room.
The pub is a bit dirty, with ugly carpet and sticky tables. Really could do with a nice new lick of paint. Out the back is a pool table and a stage.
Definitely a strange vibe here, as upstairs is a hostel so you find many many different types of people coming in and out, but hardly any stay for more than one drink. The strangeness and mystique of this place, along with welcoming staff make me want to come back when i’m next near.

Bird’s Nest is such a fun hostel to stay at especially on the weekends. I roomed with a few musicians for one night but the rest of my stay I had a 4-​bed room for myself. (Strange considering it was at the end of June.) You hear bands playing from the bar well until midnight and people talking after that but the staff has free ear plugs at the bar if you go to bed before these times. The manager (the guy with dark hair) is kind and knows a lot about the Deptford area. It’s not a «bad» area, it’s — as locals tell me – reflects what London is really like. I plan to move to this part of London and will definitely stay here again.
The hostel is clean and their bathroom on the second floor or so seemed to perpetually be under construction. I definitely recommend the bathroom on the top floor (with the shower in the large tub.) There is a window overlooking the street so if you pee standing up, you will become an exhibitionist if you forget to close the curtains.
Besides the bar, there is not a solid place for hanging out at the hostel like in the mornings. The kitchen would come closest to a main room to hang out in for the hostel. Bring your own food as free food is at a minimum. They offer bread to toast, a microwave to heat, a refrigerator to preserve; and one couch to sit on.
The hostel is very easy to find also as it’s the only building where it’s located. It’s next to the light rail station and less than a half mile away from the New Cross Tube.

This is the perfect place to stay for bohemians and band members.
It’s cheap, friendly, alternative with entertainment and within walking distance of the high street.
Deptford Bridge DLR station is two minutes away for the City and Docklands. Deptford and New Cross rail stations are three and five minutes walk respectively to be at London Bridge in six minutes or the West End/​City in 15 to 20.
I often drop in for a pint, a chat or just because the fairy lights are on!
p. s. This is a music and art loving kind of hippie commune.

I’ll admit part of the appeal is that this place is just down the street from my flat. It’s a great place to stop for a pint on the way home. I wouldn’t go out of my way to find it, but if you live in the neighbourhood it’s a comfy dive to relax in. Friendly staff and a laid back atmosphere with (usually) good bands on weekends. It’s only drawback is tourists from California staying upstairs complaining about things. But some of them can be entertaining.
Drop by and mention my Unilocal,I’ll buy you a pint!

Are you kidding me? What kind of hippie commune is this?!
Location:
1) Extremely hard to find. You cannot reach this place thru the tube and a bus ride takes forever. You need to take the train; I forget which line.
Check in:
2) The first floor of this hostel is a bar. There was a party of some kind upon arrival. You could hear them down the street (some local band, maybe?), so I’m sure you could hear them upstairs. I had to ask the bartender where the «hostess» was to check in. 5 minutes later, she comes out of her group of friends and takes me upstairs.
3) The stairs smelled of dampness and vomit. I gagged.
Room:
4) After checking in, she brought me to my room; which was rather small. Met 2 nice German girls. They informed me that some random middle-​aged dude lives there and comes in and out to change his clothes, which were hung on a rack in the corner. Apparently, he doesn’t practice good hygiene. Anyway, there was a gap between the door and the door frame, so it wasn’t very private; you could hear people outside walking by.
Bathroom:
5) I took a shower. It was alright, but dirty, and had a lot of bathing products left inside, as if someone lived there. The door didn’t lock, either, so I kept my towel within arm’s reach. I took a shower the next night upstairs, and it was very apparent that people live there. They had their toothbrushes in toothbrush holders.
Beds:
6) The bed was squeaky but comfortable enough; it was awfully cold in that room, but without the window open, it’d be muggy. Bad ventilation.
Verdict: I was at the point of no return when the German girls told me about the weird guy that lives there.

The Birds Nest,
32 Deptford Church Street.
The Birds Nest is a small, standard pub on the edge of New Cross and Deptford. Circulating around a central bar it can be a bit of a fight to get served at busier times but the atmosphere tends to be fairly upbeat, especially at weekends.
It has a diverse music listings that ranges from your standard Folk and Blues to the more alternative, noisier end of the spectrum where many up and coming bands play their early gigs.