Gowlett Arms

Best pizzas in peckham rye. Get early to get a sofa and some grand beers

The Gowlett always gets a big thumbs up from me. Great local boozer which hasn’t fallen into the trap of only catering to the ‘mums with prams’ and «I just moved here from Clapham» crowd like many of the other pubs in the area.
Subsequently this is a great joint to enjoy a pint from their great selection of real ales and lagers. There is a pool table (sometimes this is moved away to make more space though!!) and an old school gaming table with pacman/​asteroids etc.
Small terrace outside is great for smokers and you can sit outside until 10.30 or so.
The gowlett also make amazing pizzas which are crispy and fresh with delicious toppings. I have subsequently found out that they also make a lot of the cheeses and cured meats for the toppings on site using a smoker in the basement. You have to wait a while sometimes but it is always worth it.
The Gowlett also run one of my favourite events which is lucky 7’s, people turn up on the night with seven 7″ records and put their name up on the board. The lucky people who get a slot then get up and play their tunes when the time comes. This is a great fun event for everyone in the pub and a good chance for music enthusiasts to play out some of their favourite tunes. This also brings a really interesting general soundtrack to the pub on a Thursday as certain regulars start pulling out rare 80’s groove jams and 90’s hardcore classics from the depths of their crates.
I love the Gowlett — don’t change!

Awesome beers and pizzas! Occasionally do beer festivals… Come here for real ale and real pizza.

It serves the BEST PIZZA (thin crust-​nice ingredients, imagination) and one of the CHEAPEST pizza serving places in London! Other than that has nice beer and ale, pool, bands, a hidden garden at the back and the crowd is from all walks of life/​ages etc. When I lived in London I went there at least once a week!

The decoration here seems half doneone skirting board painted. the other one not. This actually fits in with the general vibe of the place! This a backstreet boozer, so you know that the fact it is still open means it must be pretty darn good these days! For my taste there were 4 beers on (one of then a guest). The pub food is pizza I can only presume that there was a post ante-​natal class pub visit from the number of pregnant women gathered in one place!

Good ol’ crowded noisy boozer with some nice guest ales plus Pride of course. No Sky Sports thank goodness though there is a rumour that they show films and there are a projector and screen fixed to the ceiling, but I’ve never discovered quite what sort of films they are. But what you go for is pizza. Pizza so splendidly crisp you could probably cut yourself on the crust, complete with stonkingly good and generous toppings. The one to go for is the Gowlettini, followed by the warm chocolatey walnutty brownie with vanilla ice cream. Heaven on a couple of plates. Just what you need after catching an early show at the Peckham Plex. The staff are fab and friendly, the punters ditto. Such a shame for the rest of you that only we Peckhamiates are allowed in. It’s true. Don’t even try it if you’re not a local. Out of bounds for you lot. Honest. cough

This used to be a rough and ready old school boozer that fell out of sync with the gentrification of the locale, fell on hard times and shut.
The ‘new’ Gowlett, opened a few years back, and it’s a pub I pop into every now and again — and every time I go there I always think I should come here more often.
It’s not over the top, or trying too hard it has a genuinely ‘lived in’ feel but it isn’t grimey just comfortable. I’m a local (well I was until a few years ago) so it’s great to see a refurbished pub that hasn’t been ‘cleansed’ until most of it’s character has been lost (a la any of the watering holes in Lordship Lane).
It also has a pool table which is almost unheard in the style of boozer that the Gowlett is. Although it must be said, it’s a rubbish pool table still, full points for effort!
Previous reviews have said that there is a good mix of clientele & I’d agree. I always see a lot of local headz there, as well as a the resident trendies and students. Below ‘Grumbling’ mentioned seeing t-​shirts and haircuts that wouldn’t feel out of place in Shoreditch. This does the Gowlett an injustice, and the fact that it isn’t full of über-​trendy ‘professional slacker’ (or is it slacker-​professional?) Shoreditch clones is great.
I’ve never had one of the feted pizzas, but friends have told me they are good. The drink selection is great expect guest ales and decent lagers that are very well kept and a small but decent wine selection.
If you are about in the area step a little off the beaten track and give it a try.

At first glance fairly typical, nay, slightly down-​at-​heel saff lahnden boozer, complete with pool table and worn flooring; there is a reasonable mix of people here, as you’re not quite into the moodier bits of Peckham or the more gentrified bits of East Dulwich, and the pizzas are pretty good. Not flawless, mind — I find them often a tadge oily — but very good nonetheless.

Much is said around SE15 /​SE22 about the wonders of the Gowlett. It’s an unreconstructed boozer. Pool table in the corner, multiple dogs wandering round trying to half inch crisps, local ‘characters’ happily mingling with art students, t-​shirts and haircuts that wouldn’t feel out of place in Shoreditch. That kind of thing. I bumped into a random colleague there who proudly informed me that she had just moved to the road to be near the place… it inspires loyalty and reverence.
You also know that it’s no ordinary pub pizza when people, hungry, booze filled exuberant people, are all very happy waiting AN HOUR for a few simple toppings on a dough base.
Crispier than I was expecting, the base was almost like a pitta bread around the edges. My Chef’s Special came with a topping led by bacon and peppers and despite a (slightly) excessive char on the base was mighty tasty. My friend had their signature Gowlettini, a cheese heavy combination that comes with a lot, and I mean a large man’s handful, of rocket over the top. A lazy-​boy salad combo if you will.

I used to live down the street from the Gowlett, and have had their pizzas maybe 3 or 4 times. The place is a pub (and sister business to the Old Nun Head), so expect the food to be greasy and artery-​clogging. Their pizzas are still quite yummy nevertheless. I’ve had the four cheese, mushroom, and American hot.

Great hidden away gem of a pub. Really great beer, nice bar staff and one hell of a pizza. We even managed to find a table on a busy friday night. Lovely.

Friendly neighbourhood bar. Real ales on tap. Freindly staff and eclectic mix of music But best of all are the pizzas made to order, yummy !!! Thursday nights lucky 7’s bring your old singles and have ago at dj’ing. Free wifi also

We love the Gowlett. It could do with a little bit of a clean and tidy but that might make it too popular and we wouldn’t get a table! Laid back, nice staff and great pizzas. Don’t tell everyone though.

The Gowlett probably serves up the best Pizza in London. Why and how a local pub tucked away in the borderlands of East Dulwich and Peckham should do so remains a mystery. But then again, perhaps not.
We went last night. An excellent range of beers was available on tap, plus decent wines. The pizza remains superlative, as good as any I’ve had in Naples, Capri or Rome. Both food and drink were charmingly served. While we had to wait a while for the pizza to be made to order, we didn’t mind as we were told this was the case on ordering. That’s real food for you. No reheated muck here.
They had a quiz on the go last night. Rob Hinchcliffe has already mentioned the lucky 7s night on Wednesdays. It seems every night has some sort of event associated with it, and much appreciated these are by locals, newcomers and staff alike.
This is a warm and welcoming place well worth popping in to if you happen to be nearby. The kind of ‘local’ that many landlords would do well to copy.