The Dolphin

[TDA]

From The Dartmouth Arms, Forest Hill

We are pleased to announce that terms have been agreed for us to take over The Dolphin in Sydenham Road. Over the next few weeks the building will be completely refurbished, inside and out. The Dolphin was abandoned in March of this year when the leaseholders disappeared and has since been run by temporary managers. It will continue to trade in this way whilst the outside is repainted and will close for a short time when work moves inside. We hope to re-open a brand new pub in early December.

The success of The Dartmouth Arms has been its appeal to a broad cross-section of the local community. Our customers come from all the walks of life found in Forest Hill and what they have in common is their desire for a clean, safe and friendly local. We intend The Dolphin to be the same for the residents of Sydenham. It will in no way be a down market version of The Dartmouth, that wouldn't work, but it will be different for two main reasons. Firstly, we don't want to compete directly with ourselves and secondly, the Dolphin has a far more open layout and a much bigger bar. There is a good sized kitchen and we will be serving a full menu for lunch and dinner. Alongside will be a good value wine list and a large selection of beer and real ale.

Perhaps the major difference from the Dartmouth Arms is that from the beginning and in advance of the general ban, The Dolphin will be completely no-smoking inside. We will provide sheltered outside space for smokers.

It took a while for The Dartmouth Arms to establish itself and we are proud of the contribution it has made to Forest Hill centre. Sydenham is certain to be a challenge, but we are convinced that, if we get things right, The Dolphin will be just as successful. Finally, we would like to thank those members of the Sydenham Society who have given so much time and support over the last few months.

You can follow the progress of our venture at www.thedolphinsydenham.com a website which, like the pub, is under construction.

Michael and Violeta Richards

[Juwlz]

I am bursting with excitement and anticipation. Love the website too.

[admin]

Welcome Michael & Violeta. I have put a story here:
http://www.sydenham.org.uk/news_dolphin.html

Admin

[Jules]

I shall look forward to the opening.
I haven't been in the Dolphin for years, but used to go a lot about 20 years ago, but i never knew the Dolphin had a garden .. amazing.

Haven't yet been in the Dartmouth Arms. But funnily enough will be there on Monday eve for a meeting !!

[annabel mclaren]

Fantastic news - Sydenham is on its way!

[Greg Whitehead]

Why, pray tell, is there such an element of fear surrounding what sort of food arrangement the Dolphin will be? In my considered opinion TDA is not actually a gastropub (if we're being belligerent). TDA is a restaurant with bar area. London's finest gastropubs all have this relaxed arrangement of cheek-by-jowl food/drink rather than the more sober layout of TDA. For that reason I see the Dolphin as an improvement on the TDA - so long as the food matches in terms of quality and ingredients I'll be more than pleased.

For that reason as the owners have stated here, if they get it wrong and fail to recognise the money tied up in the housing they're surrounded by, or put another way the 'opportunity' they have, then we (I) will soon be back spending our disposable income in C.London - that's not a threat, it's fact. Just read through the thread entitled 'Middle Class Pubs'.

Welcome Michael and Violeta. There's a good few of us been waiting a long time for you to arrive.

[biscuitman1978]

That's great news! I look forward to my first drink at the relaunched Dolphin.

[The Clown]

Hooray!

At last somewhere where I can get a decent glass of wine and it's only a stones throw from my sofa!

And thank goodness it will be non-smoking. I am so bored of coming back from pubs with my clothes and hair smelling of cigarettes.

Best of luck, Michael and Violeta. I will certainly help to keep you in business.

[JAKES ANGEL]

It is really refreshing to see that someone is actually prepared to invest in the potential of Sydenham. As Greg has previously mentioned Sydenham does have a wealth of people (in terms of both money & diversity) that will be prepared to eat drink & be merry in an enviroment of like minded souls. If they get it right and there is no reason to asume they wont, I for one will be using the establishment of a regular basis and its great news to hear that it will be up & running prior to xmas.

[stone-penge]

Went to TDA last night ,for the first time ever, its great ,but very smokey can't wait for the Dolphin to reopen in a similar, but smoke free ,atmosphere

[jb]

I can't wait for the Dolphin to reopen!! I've lived in Sydenham for ages (although recently moved nearer the 'centre') and have often spent an aimless saturday night pondering over how I would change the pubs in Syd if I had the money and the inclination.

I usually go to Crystal Palace (The White Hart or the Black Sheep Cafe - great mojitos ) but sometimes go to the Greyhound in the hope that it isn't as much of a dive as I remember... unfortunately after 2 halves of lager 'n' lime (I don't fancy Aftershock or Smirnoff Ice), I'm either back up to CP, or back at home wondering where all the people who swarm to Syd and Penge stations in the morning are; CP, Dartmouth Arms or C London I guess.

I will definitely be frequenting The Dolphin when it opens. Three cheers for Michael and Violetta - thank you for bringing TDA style to Sydenham!!

[sydenhamboy]

I bought in Sydenham recently and was secretly disappointed with the bars in the area - I new there was a problem because my dad thought the pubs here were great - MY DAD!

So I either quickmarch it to Forest Hill or bus it to C Palace or E Dulwich so this news is extremely welcome.

If the spread of improved facilities from zone 2 to zone 3 continues I think the so called gentrification of Sydenham can only be a good thing. Who knows maybe we're the next East Dulwich? ... Good luck with the venture new Dolphin owners.

[stringfellow]

Fantastic news, and I'm also glad it's at the lower end of the high street, rather than up near the train station. I will do my best to spend as much money in there as I can and hope evryone else who has been waiting for a decent pub does too.

[Ziggy]

My better half and I have only been in Sydenham since May; but from day one we have regulary lamented on the state of Sydenham's licenced establishments. We are very pleased to hear about the plans for the Dolphin Pub and wish Michael and Violeta the very best of luck. Any chance you will be dog friendly, as you have a large garden?

[stebbo]

We have just sold our house in Dartmouth Road and also have a business a few doors down from the Dartmouth Arms so were really concerned about moving to Sydenham as DA would no longer be within walking distance. Thrilled to hear that owners of DA have bought the Dolphin and that it will be within walking distance of new house!!!!! Fantastic news and good luck to the new owners. Just what Sydenham needs!

[Weeble]

I'm sure they will have no problem making a success of this, as there is absolutely zero competition in the area - as they mention themselves, the only local competition is the Dartmouth Arms itself!

I'm sure this will have some positive benefits for the High Street as it will provide a draw for people to walk down through Sydenham rather than gravitating towards Forest Hill/CP etc for a drink.

I like the fact they want to encourage community meetings, book groups etc. And smoke free, too. Sounds great!

[sydenhamboy]

Yeah - I was in one of the pubs half way down the high street not long ago and it felt like I stepped into an epidsode of 'The Sweeney' circa 1975. So I ordered a double-diamond and a babysham.

I think 'Sydders' has bags of potential (15 mins to L. Bridge! Mayow Park Crystal Palace .. nice flats and houses and, to be fair, a clean, well kept, if a bit 'nail-shop heavy' highstreet)

With the East London line brewing we really should be a proud Sarf London suburb soon to be totally on the map.

[jonekt]

Fantastic news!

I used to live in East Dulwich before moving to Sydenham a couple of years ago, and had recently heard about the new Gastro pub in Forest Hill and how good it was. I will certainly be coming into Dolphin to show my support (and to try out it's menu!).

Hopefully this is a start to a trend in Sydenham. It is somewhere that has a lot of character and potential and the high street now needs to catch up with the people moving to the area who currently live in Sydenham but spend their money & evenings in Crystal Palance and East Dulwich!

[TDA]

We are very grateful for the flood of messages of support for our new venture at The Dolphin. In particular there has been a lot of interest in our menus. You may be interested in an article on one of our more interesting suppliers which will be broadcast today on the BBC London lunchtime and evening news and later as part of the Autumn Watch series. In it Mike Ramsden of the BBC joins Miles Irving 'The Forager' hunting for wild leaves and herbs near Whitstable early one morning. Later that day Mike visited us here at The Dartmouth Arms to discuss our use of these very special ingredients in our menu with Head Chef Anthony North. Miles has been foraging for number of years and besides us he supplies a number of other chefs in London including Jamie Oliver. Don't worry if you miss it today; it can always be watched later online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/index.shtml

Michael and Violeta Richards

[jonekt]

Well Good Luck Violetta and Michael!

I would suggest flyering homes and advertising round the station.. before I bought in the area I viewed so many properties and was surprised to see so many young professionals were living in the area. I've never seen any of these people on Sydenham High Street! Make sure everyone knows your there and I think you'll be surprised who comes out of the woodwork!

Best of luck