Standard boozer with indie makeover and confused clientele.

The Venue
In the dead centre of Greenwich, a stagger away from Cutty Sark DLR, Admiral Hardy offers a sometimes uncomfortable marriage of ‘too cool for a sensible haircut’ students, local suits and lost tourists. Portraits of eighteenth century sailors sit alongside a photograph of a hundred Greenwich nudes (worth searching out) and ‘interesting’ modern art. You can tell that someone’s been paid to think trendy here. Seats in the next door market are good for the summer and smoking. There’s a back room with some fish in a tank. It’s the kind of place more often found in Clapham.

The Atmosphere
If you’re into self-consciously cool music, you should enjoy the soundtrack. If you enjoy crowds of sweating youths: come on a Friday or Saturday and luck out; there’s loads of them. These are also good days to watch the said floods of teenagers argue with the bouncers when refused entry. It sounds awful, but it’s not – sometimes it’s refreshing to feel young and free. They come to Admiral Hardy to have fun, after all.

The Food
It’s fancy bar grub at fancy prices. Admiral Hardy isn’t primarily a place to eat, fall elsewhere around Greenwich if you’re peckish. If you insist upon dining, you’ll be offered dishes such as battered cod with pea puree and fat chips, or rare breed pork and apple sausages with creamy mash. Cod and chips or sausage and mash, to your mother.

The Drink
Not one for the real ale connoisseur, but it’s stocked as you’d expect a trendy bar to be and priced similarly. There are fair concessions for students, so if you’re still studying for your degree (or GCSEs), it’s worth bringing an NUS card. The bar staff, although friendly, aren’t fooled by fakes.

The Last Word
It’s Friday, it’s busy, it’s Greenwich, and the Admiral Hardy possesses an entertainingly incongruous mix of clientele. Worthy of a swift half.

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