The Clock House, East Dulwich

In April, I described the Clock House as "deeply, drearily ordinary" ... But those were the good old days, now it's extraordinary - extraordinarily bad.

The last vestiges of any character have gone, and the pub is now a worse version of an All Bar One (if such a thing is possible). It's hard to know where to start ... The once-lovely front bar has gone, now filled with bizarre, ugly tables and stools around five feet high (rather less than friendly to the old and disabled) ... The front terrace is only accessible through the bar, for some unknown reason, with other access blocked off (again, great for wheelchair users) ... The back room is so crammed with dining tables and chairs that it feels like a claustrophobic furniture warehouse ... Horrible carpet (even in the women's toilets, which doesn't seem exactly hygienic) and cheap-looking wallpaper ... And, to cap it all, the stuffed pike has been removed, or maybe it swam off in disgust.

6 Jun 2007 15:12

The Clock House, East Dulwich

The Clock House is deeply, drearily ordinary these days. The former owners had their faults but the pub certainly had a character then. Now it's soulless, with the installation of a quiz machine in the front bar further undermining the atmosphere. The quality and range of the Youngs beers has deteriorated markedly too.

Still some plus points though: a good spot for a drink on a sunny evening (though a strange micro-climate means that a chill wind starts lashing the outside tables from early evening on even the hottest day, sending the Boden-clad East Dulwich nuclear families scurrying for cover); some pleasant and efficient bar staff; and still dog-friendly (the gastro-pubs that have colonised the area maintain the bizarre fiction that dogs aren't allowed "because we serve food").

17 Apr 2007 14:02

The Honor Oak, Honor Oak

Like Karloff, I mourn the loss of the traditional British boozer. There are few left in the SE area - witness the comprehensive gastro/bar-isation of East Dulwich in recent years.

However, it can't really be said that the Honor Oak has caused the loss of any such boozer (the old St Germains was ... err ... unusual, and closed some time ago). And there are some very traditional boozers near it - the General Napier, the Blythe Hill Tavern and (for those who like their SE pubs completely undiluted) the Chandos. The Honor Oak serves pretty good cask bitter, despite an odd retro fondness for serving it in jugs, and the food is OK, if unexceptional. Avoiding the young couples and their undisciplined offspring is a question of timing.

There's room for the Honor Oak in the local drinking market. "Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend" as Chairman Mao used to be fond of saying.

10 Mar 2007 14:51