Did you ever forget your games kit and have to do the class in your underpants? No, pretty sure that hasn’t happened to anyone since the 1950s – there must be laws against that kind of humiliation nowadays, but if you have bad memories of trying to climb the rope in gym class here’s the perfect way to move past them. Tanner & Co, fitted out like the sports hall of your schooldays, but with cocktails.
The Bermondsey Street bar and restaurant serves up drinks named after the area’s sordid past, such as the Palmer’s Poison (after William Palmer who murdered his family in the 1850s and swung for it) and the Hickman’s Folly – a Bermondsey passageway and scene of Bill Sikes’ demise in Oliver Twist. We’re sure nothing quite as bad will happen to you after drinking these concoctions – the ingredients sound much tastier than their names – but probably best not to go near the pommel horse after more than one. There’s bubble and squeak on the menu, and “packed lunch” sandwiches, and as well as the nostalgic school gym theme, there are nods to Bermondsey’s tanning factories in possibly the world’s longest Chesterfield sofa, and leather aprons for the staff. The health benefits here are questionable, despite having salads on the menu, but Tanner & Co promises a double period of fun and games.
