The Bishop SE22 8EW

Date: Sunday 29th November, 2009

Choice: Ellen

Who was there: Heather, Claire, Justin, Angel, Ellen & Siobhan.

Guests: Carrie & Jon

This bar/pub on Lordship Lane is a popular place for the cool and hip young families of East Dulwich. Our table was beside such a young family, complete with dog. The Bishop actually has its own resident dog - a massive, but very friendly Weimaraner, whose name we unfortunately we forgot to ask. He wonders around the pub checking on the patrons.

We came to this pub because Angel & Ellen had been here for drinks a few weeks ago and Angel spied the massive Yorkshire puds and decided this is a place we needed to come!

The 'slow-roasted' beef briskett was wonderfully tender, moist but just a little too salty. It tore from itself and was served with a delicious horseradish! It had the perfect kick. The gravy was served on the side in a small jug, but it was the perfect amount. Potatoes were 95% there, a little floury but did not detract from the meal.

Ellen said the beef was just like her Mum makes.

The Pork was had by Heather, and Justin scored her cracking which he said was a generous serving and was pretty damn tasty.

The veggie option was a Pumpkin & Mushroom 'Wellington', Claire is not a big fan of pastry but she said it was the perfect balance and the centre was generously filled with really flavourful mushrooms.

The desserts were very good too. Angel had the Chocolate Bread & Butter Pudding which was so light he was convinced (and asked) that it was pancakes! It was very rich and chocolatey and was served with warm custard. Ellen and Claire shared the Rhubarb Crumble (served with cream) and they said it was the perfect mix of sweet and sour, and the top was wonderfully crunchy.

Mains: £12 for the Beef & Pork, £10 for the Veggie option.

Desserts: £4 for all

website: No

Bookings: yes

Phone: 020 8693 3994

The Goat SW11 1EQ

Date: Sunday 8th November, 2009

Choice: Justin

Who was there: Claire, Justin, Angel, Ellen & Siobhan.

Guests: Jenny, Jill & Gavin

On Battersea Rise, a 10 minute walk from Clapham Junction station, this pub is very big. It has a mix of furniture and reminds us of an American bar. There is a mural on the far wall and a mix of wallpaper and paint on the walls. We had booked but as we got there early they gave us a choice of tables.

The Roast menu was comprehensive, covering Pork, Chicken, Beef, Lamb and Nut Roast, all with masses of vegetables and Yorkshire pudding.

Between the 8 of us we had the Beef, Chicken and Nut Roast. With a couple of sides of Cauliflower cheese.

The Beef was overcooked and needed the gravy to give it some moisture and unfortunately there was not a lot of gravy, but they were happy enough to give us more. The Chicken was massive - 1/2 a chicken and it came with a tasty bread sauce.

The vegetables were great, perfectly cooked carrots, parsnips, swede & kale. The roast potatoes were worth a special mention, they were light and fluffy. The mash on the other hand was a bit lumpy.

The Yorskshire puds were amazing. Crispy on the outside and soft in the middle from the gravy.

Claire gave the Nut Roast a 7/10. It was supposed to come with a Beetroot and Horsradish chutney bit this was missed (they also forgot to put celery in the Bloody Mary).

Claire and Angel shared the 'Shared Dessert' which consisted of a very, very tasty Brownie, 3 profiteroles, a slice of vanilla cheesecake, berry compote (which we asked to have on the side) all covered in a chocolate sauce served with vanilla bean ice cream. It was really good and quite a large serving - it did need to be shared!

Mains: £7.95 for the Beef, Chicken & Nut Roast.

Desserts: £4.40

website: www.thegoatpub.com

Bookings: yes

Phone: 0207 350 0349

The Sun and Dove SE5

Date: Sunday 4th October, 2009

Choice: Siobhan

Who was there: Claire, Justin, Heather, Angel, Ellen, Siobhan & Jason.

This is a local for Siobhan, she often comes here for the pub quiz and movie nights and the BBQ's in the beer garden in the summer. The interior is quite big and airy. It's on Coldharbour lane, just a short stroll from Camberwell.

Sadly they did not have a beef roast, just chicken and lamb. The chicken was very dry, but the gravy (the little there was) was great.

The vegetarian Lentil Wellington had been spied on the menu and was greatly anticipated, but unfortunately it came out warm, Claire and Jason could not decide if they liked it or not.

Angel chose the steak as he was told the lamb would come out medium rare. The steak was great, perfectly cooked and the chips were very moorish. The lamb was vert good, Justin and Heather had it and Angel was disappointed as it was perfectly cooked and not medium rare at all! The fennel and other vegetables were really very good.

Overall it was a good meal, the place was not very busy but they asked us if we wanted condiments when we were halfway through the meal which was a little slack as like we said they were not busy.

The organic carrot cake was amazing, but the warm brownie was uncooked - this was not that much of an issue as cake mix is really really tasty and this was a good brownie!

Mains: £9.50 for the lamb

Desserts: £4.50 for the Brownie, a very reasonable £2.25 for the Carrot Cake

website: www.sundanddove.co.uk

Bookings: yes

Phone: 0207 733 1525

The Ebury SW1W 8NA

Date: Sunday 6th September, 2009

Choice: Claire

Who was there: Claire, Justin, Heather, Angel, Ellen, Siobhan & Jason.

Another posh venue. Just a shot walk from Victoria Coach station, this is more a restaurant than a pub, a bar perhaps.

The tables were quite low and the benches hard to get out of, both due to their comfort and the fact if you were in first you had to ask the other 3 to move out so you could go to the loo. The interior is very cool and funky, almost retro with scandinavian style furniture and lighting.

The Roast of the day was Pork and they also had the standard Beef, which was had by 4 of us, it was really tender beef, with quite dry yorkshire puds (not much gravy), fluffy roast potatoes (which seemed to be deep fried), greens and a small dollop of Bread Sauce, which seemed very different butwas quite tasty.

The horseradish was great but unfortunately we forgot again to ask if it was home made.

Disappointingly there was no veggie option for the roast so Claire and Jason had the tagliatelle with cherry tomatoes, artichokes, rocket and parmesan, it was realy tasty but quite oily. (£12)

The special Roast of the day (Pork) was tasty too but unfortunately it came with the same trimmings as the Beef, so not the usual apple sauce which was odd.

Our waiter was a nice french man who seemed to actually enjoy his job and was very friendly and helpful - a rarity in London.

Mains: £13.50 for the Beef

Desserts: A great menu (with pudding wine recommendations) but we were too full.

website: www.theebury.co.uk

Bookings: yes

Phone: 0207 730 6784

Heather & Jason's house - Beckenham

Date: Sunday 9th August, 2009

Choice: Heather

Who was there: Claire, Justin, Heather, Angel, Ellen, Siobhan & Jason.

Heather & Jason moved in together last month so rather than go out to a pub Heather decided to have everyone around to their new abode and cook for us. She made an amazing vegetarian lasagne with a yummy salad with feta and loads of garlic bread. A big jug of Pimms was shared and after lunch we went for a walk through the local park which seemed a popular choice with locals, we got ice creams from the van in the park and walk around the park.

Cat & Mutton E8 4QJ

Date: Sunday 5th July, 2009

Choice: Angel

Who was there: Claire, Justin, Heather, Angel, Ellen, Siobhan & Jason.

Guest:

This is an ultra-cool gastro pub right next to London Fields. Full of members of the unwashed tight jeans brigade, it's a very cool place to hang out and it looks like a place to be seen.

We couldn't book so we tried to get here nice and early, 12.30. There were loads of free tables inside but the few tables out the front were occupied by arty-student types. 6 of the 8 of us were there on time but Heather and Jason had missed a train so they were running a little late so we ordered anyway, then about 10 mins later Heather and Jason turned up and asked if they could order now but were told that the chef is stressed and they have too many food orders so they would have to wait to order. Considering we could see all the sides of beef and pork cooked and sitting on the heating tray we thought this was a bit odd.

We ordered the Roast Beef, the Pork and the Vegetarian option - Spinach and Ricotta Wellington.

The veggie option was great, it came with a tasty leek sauce and for a pub veggie option it was very interesting and inventive.

The beef was tender and the Pork succulent served with excellent crackling.

Potatoes were a bit chewy, not really the best in London. The Yorkshire puddings were pretty standard too.

We have to mention the Horseradish as it was AMAZING, unfortunately we did not ask if it was home made, the menu did not state it.

When the food came out there was pretty much silence, so that is a good sign of the food.

The only complaint would have been the staff, the aforementioned ordering issue and the staff seemed to be more interested in socialising with each other and looking cool than serving customers. For the couple of hours we were there the 2 blokes behind the bar just chatted to each other and we never saw them serve anyone, they just left it to the girl - who seemed new.

All in all a really nice Sunday Roast, just the small staffing issue.

Mains: £13.50 for the Beef

Desserts: none had, but looked very good!

website: catandmutton.co.uk

Bookings: not on Sunday

Phone: 020 254 5599

The Water Poet E1 6BX

Date: Sunday 10th May, 2009

Choice: Ellen

Who was there: Claire, Justin, Heather, Angel, Ellen, Siobhan & Jason.

Overpriced, with measly servings of meat and 'outside' was in a 2-walled enclosure (with a roof) with football fans smoking and screaming at the television. Not really the setting for a relaxing Sunday roast.
The menu stated the roast chicken would be 1/2 a chicken and it was lucky to be a 1/4 or it was a very small chicken. We think they under-catered.
The roast beef consisted of 2 very small slices of beef (Justin said he has had slices of bacon thicker than these were), with a large Yorkshire pudding and both meals came with large unsliced baked vegetables. Imagine if you will a leek cut in half and shallow boiled, a cabbage cut in quarters and a carrot sliced in half. It was like they could not be arsed cutting up the vegetables, or (more likely) were trying to be achingly cool. The potatoes looked and tasted like they were roasted yesterday and then microwaved.
We did not bother with dessert in the fear of being disappointed again.
Needless to say we would not be back for the food here and do not recommend it.

Mains: £13.95 for the Beef!

Desserts: none had, mains were bad enough.

website: www.waterpoet.com

Bookings: yes

Phone: 020 7426 0495

Jolly Gardeners SW15 1NT

Date: Sunday 9th March, 2009

Choice: Justin

Who was there: Claire, Justin, Heather, Angel, Ellen, Siobhan & Jason.

The pub is not that much to look at from the outside, there is a small beer garden at the front and we hear there is one out the back but it was so cosy inside we did not go and look. Inside there are board games and comfy sofas with eclectic furniture (our table was wonky).
The Roast Beef was tender but very fatty, the Chicken was really nice and fell off the bone, the Pork was tough, and unfortunately the Lamb was overcooked and tough, but on the plus side there was lots of gravy. The Nut Roast was exceptional (but could have been warmer) and all the vegetables were perfectly cooked - the mash was fantastic. All the meals came with massive yorkshire puds which look like they have been made in a big rectangular dish and cut up.

There is quite an impressive Lager selection here, and the Coonawarra Cab Sav particularly took Claire's fancy.
The ladies room was interesting, the girls came back telling us of the Victorian pornography wallpaper.
The highlight of the lunch were the sock monkeys, for £2.50 you get a paper bag filled with a pair of socks, needle and thread, sissors, 2 buttons and instructions on how to make your own sock monkey. We made 5 between us, it was a nice way to while the afternoon away, and the £2.50 goes to charity (childrens hospital).

Mains: £8.90 for the Beef, Chicken and Lamb.

Desserts: £3.50 each

website: www.thejollygardenerssw15.co.uk

Bookings: yes

Phone: 020 8789 2539

The Fat Badger. W10 5SY

Date: Sunday 18th January, 2009

Choice: Nate

Who was there: Claire, Heather, Angel, Siobhan & Nate.

The service was a bit slow, but the food was great. There is a very cool eclectic bar downstairs and upstairs is a cosy dining room with miss-matched dining tables, there is also art on the walls you can buy.

We had the Confit of Duck served with lentils and spinach, it was really well cooked, Heather said it 'fell off the bone'.

The beef was well cooked but there was no where near enough gravy, especially with such a huge yorkshire pud!

Mutton was served with cabbage and bacon and was good.

The vegetarian option was a nice change and an interesting offering, Pancakes with mushrooms.

The potatoes were lovely and crispy and the new potatoes were perfectly cooked.

Claire did say she misses her mums cooking, but we think that was more a sign that the food here was so good.

Mains: £14.50 for the Beef

Desserts: didn't have them the mains were so filling

website: www.thefatbadger.com

Bookings: yes

Phone: 020 8969 4500