So...
How is Sydenham's forgotten pub going these days? It's odd that whenever people go on about pubs in dear old Sydders they forget this one! After all, it's on Sydenham Hill and in SE26...there's a clue there.
Anyhoo, since the refurb I've been in a few times but not since the summer. How has it found it's feet since being done up? Truth be told I've had a mixed bag of experiences in there. I'm not sure if it's trying to be a restaurant/pub/gastropub and it even has that [odd] private dining room.
The reason I'd like to know was I was thinking of taking some visitors there this weekend so any recent opinions welcome!
Basically I used to love going to it a while back. The food wasn't great but the beers and the place were good (after all the outlook/location is excellent). Increasingly though I'm finding the only reason to go is for the outlook/location as the food seems to get worse each time I go...and it was never that great to start with.
Fair comment?
Dulwich Wood House, Sydenham
Disappointing to hear the food has not improved - I've only eaten there once very shortly after the refit, and the food was truely dire. Fortunately we weren't paying (freebie to entice customers post-refit) - if I had been, I'd probably have refused to pay for some of things we were given.
I visit for the garden in summer, but that's the only draw for me.
I visit for the garden in summer, but that's the only draw for me.
i was going to respond in detail, but weeble has summed it up pretty well.
The contentious issue is the location of the pub. Technically it is now in Southwark and therefore part of Dulwich, not Sydenham. You may notice on Sydenham Hill that the road marks the boundary between Lewisham and Southwark. The Dulwich Woodhouse is on the wrong side of the road, though i'm not sure if this has, historically, always been the case.
The only draw for me to the DWH is they do Youngs Special on draught.
The Question on Dartmouth Road do very good food, as a new suggestion. I was impressed on my last visit a fortnight ago
The contentious issue is the location of the pub. Technically it is now in Southwark and therefore part of Dulwich, not Sydenham. You may notice on Sydenham Hill that the road marks the boundary between Lewisham and Southwark. The Dulwich Woodhouse is on the wrong side of the road, though i'm not sure if this has, historically, always been the case.
The only draw for me to the DWH is they do Youngs Special on draught.
The Question on Dartmouth Road do very good food, as a new suggestion. I was impressed on my last visit a fortnight ago
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digime2007
- Posts: 258
- Joined: 10 Sep 2007 18:26
- Location: Sydenhham
Aah, AliB
The old postcode debate. I'm going to post something about this over the weekend. In the meantime:
LB boundaries bear little or no correlation to what 'area' you live in. SE26 covers 3 LBs...predominantly Lewisham but also Southwark and Bromley.
Modern interpretation stipulates that all demographic indicators (NOS/Prism Lifestage/Mosaic etc) work from your postcode. I appreciate there is area for debate here. However if we are to ignore postal sub-districts of London S.E. then we might aswell all say we live in Lewisham, St Mary's? Ancient parish boundaries have no modern bearing on what an area is called especially to someone as vehemently anti-religion as I.
The Dulwich Wood House does indeed find itself slap bang on the border of Lewisham and Southwark. It also finds itself slap bang on the borders of the parishes of St Stephen, South Dulwich and (I think) St Philip the apostle, Sydenham. SO factoring in the SE26 and Sydenham address means it's all ours! We're grabbing it....we've more right to claim it IMHO.
Anyway, I last ate there 3 months ago and it was rubbish. I'm going to work on the basis that if nobody comes forward with a glowing recommendation that is more recent then the food is cr*p and I will avoid.
The old postcode debate. I'm going to post something about this over the weekend. In the meantime:
LB boundaries bear little or no correlation to what 'area' you live in. SE26 covers 3 LBs...predominantly Lewisham but also Southwark and Bromley.
Modern interpretation stipulates that all demographic indicators (NOS/Prism Lifestage/Mosaic etc) work from your postcode. I appreciate there is area for debate here. However if we are to ignore postal sub-districts of London S.E. then we might aswell all say we live in Lewisham, St Mary's? Ancient parish boundaries have no modern bearing on what an area is called especially to someone as vehemently anti-religion as I.
The Dulwich Wood House does indeed find itself slap bang on the border of Lewisham and Southwark. It also finds itself slap bang on the borders of the parishes of St Stephen, South Dulwich and (I think) St Philip the apostle, Sydenham. SO factoring in the SE26 and Sydenham address means it's all ours! We're grabbing it....we've more right to claim it IMHO.
Anyway, I last ate there 3 months ago and it was rubbish. I'm going to work on the basis that if nobody comes forward with a glowing recommendation that is more recent then the food is cr*p and I will avoid.
Last edited by Ulysses on 11 Dec 2009 09:49, edited 1 time in total.
Sorry Alib et al - its not position that is the problem. Ten years ago DWH was first choice for many of us whether taking a drink or entertaining others. It always always busy. Good Youngs beer, neat but unpretentious, great garden in summer. It was worth the long walk up there and back. Parking is also the easiest of any pub in Sydenham. Yes it is in Sydenham.
The alternatives were mostly plastic beer in a less pleasing location.
Now we have gastro-pubs in abundance. If you want that sort of thing The Dolphin & The Bridge are hard to beat. The DWH has ceded its premier position as the best honest boozer to be a second rate gastropub. There is a market for good honest boozers as The Golden Lion demonstrates.
Last time I went to DWH for a drink - felt a distinct feeling drinkers who just wanted a packet of crisps were unwelcome. There was not much room for drinking unremarkable beer at remarkable prices.
Epic Fail
Stuart
The alternatives were mostly plastic beer in a less pleasing location.
Now we have gastro-pubs in abundance. If you want that sort of thing The Dolphin & The Bridge are hard to beat. The DWH has ceded its premier position as the best honest boozer to be a second rate gastropub. There is a market for good honest boozers as The Golden Lion demonstrates.
Last time I went to DWH for a drink - felt a distinct feeling drinkers who just wanted a packet of crisps were unwelcome. There was not much room for drinking unremarkable beer at remarkable prices.
Epic Fail
Stuart
Last edited by stuart on 11 Dec 2009 09:49, edited 1 time in total.
I don't think the DWH has quite made the right transition from good old-fashioned local pub to trendy gastropub, having lost the unpretentious friendliness of the former and failed to deliver the type of food of the latter. I could though see why the owners wanted to change - whenever I went there before the renovation there just weren't enough people in.
Me and my significant other frequented DWH for many years. Before the refurb the food was dire and most people complained about the chef. We were told that over £250,000 had been spent on the refurbishment which resulted in our beloved top bar being turned into a restaurant. Bizarrely, after spending so much money with a view to enticing people to dine there, they kept the same chef on – daft or what? Perhaps he’s still there!! 
We haven’t used the place since its expensive facelift. We loved it when it was slightly old fashioned with its yellowing wallpaper, drape curtains, quirky pictures and, in Jo and Peter’s time, open log fire. Gone, all gone. I’ve just changed my mind about gentrification!
We haven’t used the place since its expensive facelift. We loved it when it was slightly old fashioned with its yellowing wallpaper, drape curtains, quirky pictures and, in Jo and Peter’s time, open log fire. Gone, all gone. I’ve just changed my mind about gentrification!Thanks Thomas and Stuart,
I might just have to cross the DWH off my 'things to rave about in Sydders' list. Truth be told the pen has been hovering over the line for some time. Time to stop taking visitors there methinks, especially as The Dolphin bests the DWH at almost every turn.
I've always felt it's a great building in a great spot. Things started to take a turn for the worse though when they banned children from the beer garden, or did they just remove the play-area? At any rate it sent out a certain message which I heeded. I have no children of my own but my friends and family do.
Then it did the refurb. I am still lost as to whom they thought would frequent the 'private dining room'. It's hardly Claridge's...is it? I appreciate there is a great deal of affluence around the DWH, in the main. But surely if it's a special occasion then there are other places in the area more fitting?
This isn't a private-dining area. It's the old snug bar with the dart-board turned un-neccesarily pretentious. If they're serving up that dire fare then I'd walk out. It's hardly top-end.
No, it's a Youngs pub gone south...so to speak!
My mind is made up. We're going to The Windmill*
* (joke!)
I might just have to cross the DWH off my 'things to rave about in Sydders' list. Truth be told the pen has been hovering over the line for some time. Time to stop taking visitors there methinks, especially as The Dolphin bests the DWH at almost every turn.
I've always felt it's a great building in a great spot. Things started to take a turn for the worse though when they banned children from the beer garden, or did they just remove the play-area? At any rate it sent out a certain message which I heeded. I have no children of my own but my friends and family do.
Then it did the refurb. I am still lost as to whom they thought would frequent the 'private dining room'. It's hardly Claridge's...is it? I appreciate there is a great deal of affluence around the DWH, in the main. But surely if it's a special occasion then there are other places in the area more fitting?
This isn't a private-dining area. It's the old snug bar with the dart-board turned un-neccesarily pretentious. If they're serving up that dire fare then I'd walk out. It's hardly top-end.
No, it's a Youngs pub gone south...so to speak!
My mind is made up. We're going to The Windmill*
* (joke!)
I like it inside but the food is poor. It looks nice but falls into the old trap of 'food looks good, not much of it, overpriced and a bit tasteless'.
Lots of pubs fall into this trap. I long for a pub with good steak and ale pie cooked in a tray where you can really taste the ale, chips that are brown and crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle that doesn't cost more than 10 quid.
When they have 'events' it's a nice place to be though.
Some real ales (and guest ales) and a friendly barman who says 'yes sir, what can I get you'.
A comedy night would be good (what's the hob like in FH?)
Perhaps the Greyhound?
Lots of pubs fall into this trap. I long for a pub with good steak and ale pie cooked in a tray where you can really taste the ale, chips that are brown and crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle that doesn't cost more than 10 quid.
When they have 'events' it's a nice place to be though.
Some real ales (and guest ales) and a friendly barman who says 'yes sir, what can I get you'.
A comedy night would be good (what's the hob like in FH?)
Perhaps the Greyhound?
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bigbadwolf
- Posts: 726
- Joined: 7 Jan 2008 21:21
- Location: Forest Hill and Sydenham
Oh how I miss the Woodhouse of yesteryear, well, yester-decade in any case.
During my childhood the Woodhouse was my fathers refuge from three demanding boys. We'd sometimes join him to watch the cricket and would be allowed to run wild in the garden without even the slightest of scowls from other patrons. There were also loads of other local kids to play with whilst the parents sank a few schooners.
Now it has been monstrously 'ponced' like so many of the other fabled drinking establishments on Lordship Lane after all the new money from the dot com boom of the late nineties started flocking to the area, eager to breath "new life" into the area. In other words: "sod off paupers, this is our saloon now."
Phase one: Start schmoozing with the locals
Tony's liberal Guardianista's aren't new to this notion that everywhere needs to be regenerated. Regenerated in the sense that the area is tired with the locals, not the other way round. This means the current demograph shall have to be taken outside and shot, sort of. The prefered method is a pincer movement of first, translating the menu and drinks list into french. Then hiking up the cost.
Phase two: Fitting a new washroom
The new crowd can't be seen to be washing their hands in the same sheep dip as the locals so they install a new washroom. Washroom itself is a rather misleading term. Turkish bath house would be more accurate. The local, on seeing such sanitary oppulance, is fooled into thinking that this is what the 'aristoikracy' crap into and purge themselves of any further ablutions. They are therefore embarressed and shamed into thinking they've been such sanitary failures so in future will no longer visit.
Phase three: Job well done
The new crowd bolt the door to the workhouse patrons. Put Staropramen on tap. And stick on their Genesis and Sting C.D's.
Essentially: Veni, vidi, vici.
During my childhood the Woodhouse was my fathers refuge from three demanding boys. We'd sometimes join him to watch the cricket and would be allowed to run wild in the garden without even the slightest of scowls from other patrons. There were also loads of other local kids to play with whilst the parents sank a few schooners.
Now it has been monstrously 'ponced' like so many of the other fabled drinking establishments on Lordship Lane after all the new money from the dot com boom of the late nineties started flocking to the area, eager to breath "new life" into the area. In other words: "sod off paupers, this is our saloon now."
Phase one: Start schmoozing with the locals
Tony's liberal Guardianista's aren't new to this notion that everywhere needs to be regenerated. Regenerated in the sense that the area is tired with the locals, not the other way round. This means the current demograph shall have to be taken outside and shot, sort of. The prefered method is a pincer movement of first, translating the menu and drinks list into french. Then hiking up the cost.
Phase two: Fitting a new washroom
The new crowd can't be seen to be washing their hands in the same sheep dip as the locals so they install a new washroom. Washroom itself is a rather misleading term. Turkish bath house would be more accurate. The local, on seeing such sanitary oppulance, is fooled into thinking that this is what the 'aristoikracy' crap into and purge themselves of any further ablutions. They are therefore embarressed and shamed into thinking they've been such sanitary failures so in future will no longer visit.
Phase three: Job well done
The new crowd bolt the door to the workhouse patrons. Put Staropramen on tap. And stick on their Genesis and Sting C.D's.
Essentially: Veni, vidi, vici.
thanks to those who put me straight over the DWH location. Having now been lumbered with the DWH is Sydenham, I am no longer happy.
The money spent on the refurb, and the actual works themselves, is deserving of it's own "Makeover disaster" TV special.
Everything they could have done wrong, they have completed in full.
Without wasting further breath on the DWH, 'I have some comments about the Question.
This used to be fairly busy, especially in the evening when it seemed to 'morph' into a club with DJ's. I would say it then appealed more to people into modern R'n'B type stuff and had bouncers on the door and queues to get in.
Trade seems to have dipped for them, but they are keeping the faith for the moment. One of the few pubs in the area to serve food at lunchtime. and also evenings. I don't think they have music in the evening anymore, but you'll have to check. They have a small secluded patio area at the back , if the weather is fair. The seating area inside is well laid out with a mix of chairs, sofas and stools.
Beer is fairly standard , but their chef is excellent. Big portions, very tasty and excellent value.
i've also heard good things about the Bridge House Tavern
The money spent on the refurb, and the actual works themselves, is deserving of it's own "Makeover disaster" TV special.
Everything they could have done wrong, they have completed in full.
Without wasting further breath on the DWH, 'I have some comments about the Question.
This used to be fairly busy, especially in the evening when it seemed to 'morph' into a club with DJ's. I would say it then appealed more to people into modern R'n'B type stuff and had bouncers on the door and queues to get in.
Trade seems to have dipped for them, but they are keeping the faith for the moment. One of the few pubs in the area to serve food at lunchtime. and also evenings. I don't think they have music in the evening anymore, but you'll have to check. They have a small secluded patio area at the back , if the weather is fair. The seating area inside is well laid out with a mix of chairs, sofas and stools.
Beer is fairly standard , but their chef is excellent. Big portions, very tasty and excellent value.
i've also heard good things about the Bridge House Tavern