Restaurant Reviews & Suggestions - Where to eat?

Blyth Hill Tavern - the best pub in south east London.

I do like that pub, but the South Circular is a long walk from Ladywell though...?

A lovely walk through Ladywell Fields.

We combined a visit to lewisham hospital for the birth of our son with a trip to Wilsons. Lewisham hasd sent us to walk around for a bit.... They were pretty accommodating (squeezing us in when fully booked) and the service was good, I agree wouldn't really have any other reason to be in ladywell though,

I really do miss sparrow in Lewisham.

My OH may sadly veto this given it might be around 830pm 🦇

Sparrow was great, though it suffered from that same 'what do we do before / afterwards?' problem. I think when we went we ended up getting the bus to the Talbot up in Loampit Vale afterwards.

I guess a walk up to Joyce in Brockley isn't a bad idea, I always feel the vibe's not amazing as it's on that stupidly traffic-choked road though.

The Fox and Firkin is one of south london's last genuinely great live music pubs and always worth a visit - is ~10 mins walk from Wilsons.

Brockley Brewery also a nice spot if you like that vibe

I loved the last table at sparrow > Lewisham lanes night out but yeah point taken.

161 kirkdale is good but not many decent pubs in Sydenham for an after dinner drink.

@honk:
yeah that road in Brockley is shit.

recommending 161 as it's great (but I haven't been in years - life), also recommend the moustache a bit further up. As for pubs in SE26 that way, the struggle is real. Fox is alright but not GREAT, Bricklayers is a good boozer. Then you're up Dartmouth road and thinking "do I really want to go in the Sylvan? Again?"

As Andy says, the Blythe Hill Tavern is great, but not really close enough to Ladywell. Just go to the Ladywell Tavern? Disclaimer: I haven't been for ages.

Yeah, I think I last went in about 2009 myself. All moot now as my superiors have pulled rank and booked Franklin's in ED it would seem. 🤷‍♂️

Another place I've not been to for a very long time, in fact not long after Jay Rayner reviewed it in the mid 2000s.

It's a soulless shell of a pub. Seriously, the F&F is the best option in that area.

'The Frame and Forks' is an odd name for a pub, but I guess if you want to attract the cycling pound ...

It is good however a typical Friday is likely to have a dub night or Norman Jay isn't it? That would have once excited me, now it fills me with middle aged dread

Ah yeah, I'm coming to this from the perspective of a new dad, so pubs are for sneaky pint on the dog walk, indulgent paternity leave afternoon beers on a walk or meeting a mate at 630 on a Tuesday for a few. All of which, the fox is perfect for. Friday nights are a distant memory but yeah, probably pretty wild. In that case I reckon I'd go to the London beer dispensary in Crofton Park or Chandos, but both are a bit further than you'd like.

These days I usually go to The Components & Clothing

And invariably end up in the Miscellaneous and Meaningless at 3am

So this was absolutely banging, thanks for the recommendation!

Had a meal at L'Enclume today, obviously it was incredible. Definitely the best place I've eaten, just so so good. It's hardly an off the wall suggestion but if you've got a special occasion I can thoroughly recommend it.

Thought to go there for my 40th earlier this year as we live 20 mins away now! Thou having a 5 month old at the time it defo wasn't gonna happen. Once she's old enough for solid grand parent baby sitting will have to think about it again.

Back with the same ask as before, but ideally nearer Old St (but not Angel).

Where's a fancy place with a really good veggie menu that's not going to be stacked full of earthy flavours in winter or full of whatever fake meat people are eating now?

Somewhere like the Connaught but not as expensive would be idea.

I thought the mallow recommendation looked good, but we do often end up with Indian as a veggie option. That said it looks a bit different from other Indians.

Cheers.

what were the logistics? did you book the room as well?

Booked it through the website about 2 months before we went. We stayed up in the Lakes and then drove over for lunch. I did look at the dinner bed and breakfast package but they were all sold out.

It was expensive but worth it, it genuinely was exceptional. There were 16 chefs in the kitchen when we went and a similar number in the front of house team, the attention to detail across the board was outstanding. We have a policy of hardly eating out but going big when we do, I would much rather 1 or 2 incredible meals a year than lots of average £100 meals at over priced pubs.

I would much rather 1 or 2 incredible meals a year than lots of average £100 meals at over priced pubs.

so much this