Two Bromley pubs have been named as joint runners up for CAMRA’s best pub in the borough.

Both The Star and Garter and The Three Hounds Beer Company came close to taking the title of best pub in the borough, but were instead crowned as the runners up.

Every year, the majority of CAMRA branches select a pub to be their branch Pub of the Year.

Those branches with any eligible clubs can also select a club to be their branch Club of the Year.

Winners of the branch awards then progress to be judged in the relevant regional competitions and potentially ultimately for the national awards. 

According to CAMRA, The Star and Garter was closed for a number of years before reopening under new management in 2016.

It now regularly offers a range of cask ales, many of which CAMRA claims are rarely seen in Bromley such as beers from Fyne, Arbor or Kirkstall.

The Star and Garter is a grade II listed pub was rebuilt back in 1898 and CAMRA describes it as having “one of the most imposing exteriors of any pub in the area”, which includes an “enormous pub sign projecting over the pavement.

Inside, the pub has been completely refurbished to be more open plan around a U-shaped bar and tin-plated beer signs.

The pub also has a “well-tended patio garden” which CAMRA finds to be popular in the warmer weather.

The Three Hounds Beer Company is described as a “friendly and popular beer café and bottle shop”.

It originally opened back in 2020 and was then able to open more fully in 2021.

A CAMRA spokesperson said: “The premises are more spacious than the frontage would indicate, and around 50 customers can be seated over two floors, with more benches at the front of the pub.

“Quickly establishing itself as a local community hub, this is also very dog friendly.”

The pub has a small, L-shaped bar and contemporary décor shoeing artworks which rotate on a regular basis and are for sale.

A statement on its website said: “Awarded Pub of the Year 2014, by the Bromley section of CAMRA, and included in the good beer guides for 12 years, it is an independent, family run, sixteenth-century, traditional country pub in the centre of Downe Village, a short drive or bus journey from Orpington or Bromley.

“The public bar - Darwin Bar, yes Charles Darwin himself drank here-  has three roaring log fires in the winter, along with leather chesterfields, a piano and a darts board.

“It also has three small restaurant areas as well as a small snug bar for quiet, more intimate drinks.

“For the summer, it has a large walled patio / garden area currently covered by a marquee, perfect for relaxing after those country rambles.”