The Dulwich Woodhouse, Sydenham

This is a wasted opportunity. A cosy pub near Dulwich woods, which should surely reward you for climbing that hill...well, only in part. The food is abysmal - you have to go for the safest thing on the menu in order to tolerate what you're served (ie: something that doesn't require being heated; something that's less prone to going off - so meat and fish are out of the question!). In the summer staff find it impossible to cater for those in the garden and inside the pub - the kitchen, it would seem, is insufficient to cope with demand. There is what appears to be a BBQ area outside, yet I have not witnessed any outdoor catering as yet. Should this be used, it may improve the situation considerably, if there are enough qualified catering staff to hand.

Other things - namely, the ambiance: the choice of music is terrible - not sure why the Dulwich Wood House tries to appear 'upmarket' when the music is anything but. Silence would be an improvement on the tinny hip hop radio music you have to contend with (as if you were a teenager!). And why the fruit machines? This is incongruent with the 'upmarket' image too: you don't get fruit machines in pubs which cater for semi-intelligent punters! The staff are hit and miss: sometimes you will find some very professional, friendly staff, while on other occasions service will be very slow, as if you are being ignored. Furthermore, there is too much banter between a couple of uncouth members of staff with a few uncouth locals - it is offputting when considering the prices you pay to sit and drink, hoping you can do so in civility.

Leading me on to prices - it is far, far too expensive a pub, considering it is situated in a residential area. Most of the punters seem to be locals, yet, they presumably have to pay over �4 a pint, which seems wrong.

This pub is a confused place - Youngs want it to match their string of upmarket venues, yet inherently it does not want to be upmarket; it wants to be a local. It would be good if Youngs could cut the landlord a bit of slack, enabling him to personalise it a little and turn it into a place with some atmosphere, charm, and integrity. It's often empty early in the week and on Sundays, yet this place could be full if only the locals had the incentive to visit.

23 Feb 2011 01:05