At the risk of getting this thread back on topic, I visited the HO last night.

A bit underwhelmed.

The bar seemed little changed from the latter stages of its last incarnation. I had a pint of the Brockley Red (good that they're stocking the local produce, though it's priced a touch high), that stayed a little cloudy, but tasted fine. It ran out the next time they tried to pour it. The server (not the one I had, but the one who had tried to pull the next pint) saw my pint looked dodgy and pre-emptively took it away before I had the chance to ask (bonus to sitting at the bar). Good.

The menu looked a bit gastropub schmastropub to me - all very well, and I look forward to sampling, but nothing really interesting that you don't see in similar establishments all over London. The dining room looked a decent space, however.

The biggest problem with this place for me is and always has been the acoustics - more than a couple of conversations going on in the pub and you can't hear yourself think. This is a structural problem with the space and less to do with the refurb. However, it all adds to the sense that the place is quite impersonal - I can't see it ever achieving any kind of local community hub status.

I hope it thrives - it's the nearest pub to my house by far - and I'll definitely be back. But I can't see it becoming a regular haunt. I'm not its target bottle-of-sauvignon-blanc-and-four-meals clientele, though (well, not often, anyway), and if it does well in attracting them, then it may well be a success. Alas, I suspect it's pitched itself too high upmarket with too few distinguishing features. But happy to wait and see.