Forest Hill Tavern

Having made a conscious decision to try somewhere different, today we went to the FHT for lunch. Being the East Dulwich side of Forest Hill, it is no surprise that it has acquired a three letter acronym moniker. My expectations were of a gastro pub full of 20 & 30 year olds, though having looked online, I think it does have a reputation as a spoirts pub.

My first surprise was the size of the place. It is much larger than I expected and has a decent sized and what looked like a nice garden (hardly the weather for it unless you are a smoker).

At 20 past 12, we thought we were the only people there. Us and one seasoned local who I assume had been there at door opening time. But sure enough, as with most places, it slowly filled up and was probably just under half full when we left. I quite liked this as it wasn't packed at this stage, so we got the sofa seats nor was it heaving with badly behaved children, which sadly almost every establishment round here seems to cater for (another post some time).

The menu at first I found very disappointing as it was limited and to my mind, I expected food from the freezer. The roast beef we both had however was absolutely excellent. A really decent amount of good meat with all the trimmings for 8.95. Exactly what the doctor ordered.

Happily full we wandered out, just as the football came on (loudly). My heart sank.

This place has some good things going for it, but in trying to be everything to everybody, it struggles to meet every ones tastes. Having said that, I'd quite happily return, but early on before the tv goes on and the kids arrive.