Staff: 4/5

Atmosphere: 4/5

Drink: 4/5

Price: 3/5

Decor: 3/5

Food: 4/5

THOUGH generally open-minded, I can be a bit of a traditionalist in some areas. One is in the placing of a pub. It is not essential for a boozer to be on a corner and I have been to a number of good ones which aren't but the corner is where I expect it to be.

The main advantage to a corner pub is the possibility of at least two windowed walls and the light this can bring. Another advantage is the chance of more than one entrance and exit, which is good for getting into a part of the pub which suits you.

Hardy's Free House is not a corner pub. But apart from this there is not much more criticism I can make. On my visit only one rather mild real ale was on tap Greene King IPA, brewed to 3.6 per cent but it was £2.15 a pint, which is not unreasonable.

I went for this Bury St Edmonds brew along with a steak in thick-sliced bread with salad and crunchy chips. At £4.95 (almost the most expensive thing on the menu) it was a tasty bargain.

An Irish reverend sat at the back of the room and the pub was packed with well-dressed gents and a sprinkling of females.

The Irish proprietor is friendly and reserved and the whole feel is of a lively drinker where you can sup by yourself without the onslaught of a pub bore, mingle with the crowd at one end of the bar or take up the communal middle tables. There is a small suntrap garden at the back and the toilets are relatively clean.

Far enough away from the attractions of Greenwich village in the poorer (but in my view with bags more character) east Greenwich, it is a pub for local people but not so local the music will stop when a stranger enters.

This pub was voted the 10th most popular boozer in London in a poll carried out by my colleagues at Beer in the Evening and cannot be knocked.