The Ninth Life, Catford
Location: 167 Rushey Green, Catford, London SE6 4BD
Website: https://www.ninthlife.pub
Our local pub used to be the Catford Constitutional Club, but when Lewisham Council shut it down we were forced to find a new venue for our occasional cheeky pint. Luckily there is another great house of ill repute in Catford to replace it; The Ninth Life. A large pub with an eccentric vibe and huge beer garden, they do reasonably priced pints and also do some decent quality pub grub.
The menu is actually quite interesting for a local pub, a combination of small plates, burgers and mains. They have plenty of vegetarian and vegan options which make it a good spot to meet up with your non-carnivorous friends. We went for a few small plates instead of a main so we could sample a few different dishes. The Heritage Tomatoes with Goats cheese were quite tasty. The Sweet Potato and chilli donuts were tasty and very filling, we couldn’t even finish them! The Jackfruit tacos and curried lentil scotch egg were decent too. They do Poutine as a side which was pretty decent too.
With regards to the drinks, they don’t do cocktails which is a bit odd as it seems like the type of place that would have a great cocktail menu, I really hope they rectify that soon. The pub serves standard drinks, wine, beer spirits etc but nothing too exciting. They do however have a good scotch selection and they do serve my favourite scotch, Laphroaig, and at a decent price too so that will definitely keep me coming back.
The pub itself is eccentrically decorated, with bright colours and arty installations very much in evidence. It’s a very unique look which sets this venue apart from your average boozer. The beer garden is large with graffiti on the walls, a great spot for evening pints in the summer.
They seem like to have some sort of immersive experience upstairs, like an escape room type of thing. We saw people being briefed while we were eating our food and it looked like exciting but we didn’t partake but I think we will soon!
To summarise, The Ninth Life is a great little boozer and definitely a fun place to go for a pint. The food is not good enough to recommend a visit specifically to try it, but it is quite tasty and is a very good option if you are looking for some good value, filling munch to line your stomach while you are enjoying your pint.