Bermondsey Bierkeller Beer Hall: Friday Oompah From 7pm

Every Friday from 7pm, a Bavarian oompah band takes over the brick arches at 2-4 Tooley Street, London SE1 2SY, and the Bermondsey Bierkeller turns into the loudest German beer hall south of the river. The venue bills itself as London's biggest German beer hall, it sits a few minutes on foot from London Bridge station, and it opens at noon every day. Walk-ins are welcome, although the team recommends booking, especially once the Oktoberfest season starts.

The Bierkeller occupies a run of railway arches at the foot of Tooley Street, right where the street begins beside London Bridge itself. CAMRA's pub listing records it opening in July 2021 in space that was once Cynthia's Cyberbar and later part of the London Bridge Experience, the old horror attraction under the bridge approach. The curved Victorian brick is still the main design feature, which is why the room feels like a Munich cellar rather than a converted office bar.

Seating is the classic beer hall layout: bench seating and large wooden tables built for sharing, so a group of four will often end up next to strangers by the second round. The whole venue can be hired for up to 700 guests, which tells you how far the arches run back from the street. Outside there is a small beer garden with bench seating and Paulaner on tap for the warmer evenings.

The official live music page is short and specific: authentic Bavarian oompah bands perform every Friday from 7pm, in costume, and the set mixes German drinking songs with crowd-pleasers like Sweet Caroline and Oasis singalongs. The homepage pitches the venue at group and corporate bookings, so a Friday crowd tends to be office tables from the riverside towers around More London mixed with birthday groups who booked the long benches weeks ahead.

One house rule worth knowing before the band starts: when live music is playing, the venue adds a small supplementary charge to selected drinks to support the performers, and soft drinks and non-alcoholic options are excluded. It is printed at the top of the food menu, so it should not come as a surprise on the bill. If you want a quiet catch-up, Monday to Wednesday afternoons are the better choice.

What separates the Bierkeller from a straight Bavarian hall is the games floor, called the Gamekeller. The FAQ lists duckpin bowling, interactive shuffleboard, AR darts, pool tables, air hockey and axe throwing, plus two bigger attractions. Krazy Karts, an underground drift-kart track, costs £20 per person for a 15-minute session, and the nine-hole Crazy Golf course costs £10 off-peak and £15 at peak times.

The sensible order is golf or karts first and beer second, partly for safety and partly because the bench tables fill up as the evening goes on. Groups who want their own space can hire The Bunker, which holds up to 50 guests standing, or Huski Lodge for up to 40, and the FAQ quotes £500 for four hours for either room.

The kitchen leans properly German. The Bavarian Platter at £37.95 serves two and is the order for a first visit: two giant pretzels with Paprika Debrecener, a Vienna beef frankfurter, Iberico pork bratwurst and mini Nürnberger sausages, plus sauerkraut and a spread of German sauces. A single Bayerische Brezel on its own costs £5.20 if you only want something to soak up the Paulaner.

Among the plates, Käsespätzle at £9.95 is Germany's answer to mac and cheese, with caramelised onions and crispy fried onions on top, and the Kartoffelpuffer potato pancakes cost £7.95 with sour cream. The Jägerschnitzel, a breaded pork cutlet with mushroom sauce, is £16.45, and the Bavarian Goulasch, beef stewed in dark beer with homemade spätzle, is £17.65. Skip the pizzas. They are on the menu for mixed groups, but nobody comes to a bierkeller under London Bridge for a margherita.

Oktoberfest 2026 runs at the Bierkeller from 19 September to 31 October, and those Friday and Saturday nights are when the arches fill first. Book a table on the website for any weekend evening in that window, or arrive close to the noon opening on Saturday if you are walking in. Thursday nights run until midnight and Friday and Saturday until 1am, so a late arrival can still catch an hour of music.

If the main hall is full and the queue is not moving, the beer garden is the first fallback. The second is the Munich Cricket Club at Tower Hill, a German bierkeller in the railway arches on Crutched Friars, roughly a twenty-minute walk across Tower Bridge. It runs its own Oktoberfest programme through October, with oompah bands on selected nights.

Arrive an hour early and the neighbourhood rewards it. Borough Market is a five-minute walk west, and grazing a few stalls there before dinner leaves room for a shared platter later. Southwark Cathedral sits right beside the market, and its churchyard is one of the calmest corners of London Bridge before the after-work rush starts.

Heading east instead, follow the Queen's Walk along the Thames past Hay's Galleria and HMS Belfast to the foot of Tower Bridge. The path has the best view of the Tower of London across the water, and the round trip back to Tooley Street takes about half an hour at an easy pace. Time it so you are back on a bench before 7pm, when the band begins.

Address: The Bermondsey Bierkeller, 2-4 Tooley Street, London Bridge, SE1 2SY. Hours: Monday to Wednesday 12pm to 11pm, Thursday 12pm to 12am, Friday and Saturday 12pm to 1am, Sunday 12pm to 10pm. The nearest station is London Bridge for the Northern and Jubilee lines and mainline trains, a few minutes on foot.

Vegan options are on the menu, including a plant-based bratwurst at £16.70. Bookings, private hire enquiries and Christmas party packages are all handled through the website, and the email for general questions is info@bermondseybierkeller.co.uk. The venue also shows live sports on its screens, so big match days change the mood, and the homepage lists sport alongside games and German food as the three reasons to visit.