The Dulwich Wood House

A great big pub inside, with a restaurant area, with a large beer garden to the rear. Very much a family friendly pub. They have some board games available for indoor & outdoor use as well as blankets for those chilly summer evenings. Staff always friendly. On occasions when I have been here there has been a delay on food getting to you. On those occasions they have always discounted something without me making a fuss about it. They offer free wifi which is good as due to its location (around the corner from crystal palace transmitters) the phone signal is poor there. If anyone knows why this is I would like to know...or is it just my service provider. The food portions are good whilst the food may not always reflect the price in its quality you should be able to find something to eat. Hey have a good range of specialty beers and ciders. There is often a free drink in connection with events they hold which you are made aware of once u sign up for the free wifi. On the whole a good pub for a quite drink, a drink with friends or family, or even somewhere to have a meeting.

A friend and I ventured here last night in the rain for an fairly early supper. We had a 'BOGOF' on main meals voucher and thought that it would be a fairly cheap option. The pub is split into three main areas - the restaurant at the back (or the front depending on how you look at it) which was deserted. There is the main bar that was 50% full, warm and a bit more lively, and then there is the covered outside part that I suspect smokers hang out in. We sat in the bar, quite naughtily taking up a table for 6 with just the two of us - but then the other options were just too small or too 'in the corner' (I pretended I was Goldilocks). We ordered a bottle of red - the Zinfandel Shiraz, (£20) of which the bar tender gave us a pretty generous tasting amount before we committed. He also brought us a lovely big bottle of tap water and glasses with ice and lemon. Having the voucher in our pockets gave us the courage to go for the rather alarmingly priced roasts - we both chose the lamb at £15. It was superb. It was falling off the bone in a delicious gravy with almost perfect veg, I could have happily had the parsnips roasted for 20 minutes longer (they were less 'al dente' and more 'ouch me dente'). I would have loved more roast potatoes and less aubergine (!) but all in all it was really nice and we ate everything on our plates. Our thoughts then turned to pudding.... well, it would be rude not to at least look, right? It was a dark and rainy night, so bread and butter pudding and custard seemed the only sensible choice. Hmmm, it tasted ok, could have been hotter with less icing sugar dumped on the top (at least there was no aubergine this time) but my real issue with it was that it was tiny. Really really small and measly. (See photo). I mean, when I'm paying £5.50 for what is essentially stale bread and sultanas in custard, I expect a decent portion. It must have cost around 8p to make the slice I had - good mark up if you can get it! The coffee was abysmal. In the usual inverse coffee rule, it smelt so wonderful and then tasted slightly better than dish water. The loos were a frightful state, and when I alerted some woman who was walking around not doing very much, she was pretty defensive about it saying that she had not gone in there since that morning. I think that may be the problem, I said. The chap that seemed to be in charge was good and apologised for the small portion and let the sous chef know, but it was impossible to get the attention of anyone else who seemed to be working there. I gave up trying to get anyone to come over to our table and just walked over to wherever they were if I wanted anything. Even with the voucher, (which they didn't take off the first bill we were presented with) it came to £30 per head, which in retrospect was a lot more than I think the meal was worth. The lamb gets it two stars, but everything else looses the other three stars. Shame, as it looks like it has so much potential.

Dulwich Woodhouse is not in the midst of the Crystal Palace restaurants and a little out of the way however, that being said, it is very popular and has regulars there known to the staff which makes for a friendly feel. It is a nice place to come with young family, couple, friends or by yourself. In the summer they have a great outdoor areas where to sit and eat and or drink. Inside there is a restaurant area where you can sit and eat slightly more formally. Staff are laid back and friendly and the food uncomplicated serving lunch and evening. It is not a loud place so you can sit and talk, work or read without being disturbed there is free wi-fi and they hold 'events' when key football or rugby is on. When sport is being shown, it does not get rowdy and you would still feel comfortable being their with your kids. There are blankets provided for sitting out in the summer evenings and games in the garden to help occupy the kids.

I want to love the Dulwich Wood House. Really, I do. But I can't. They make it too hard. The two stars above are purely for the excellent terrace and beer garden. The food is average at best and the drinks are too expensive for the location. I was there last night for dinner with a group of friends for dinner and drinks. They were short staffed, short tempered and unapologetic. They didn't warn us when we ordered that we would be facing a wait of over an hour for food and when it came, it was hardly worth it. My "special" costing the best part of £12, was described as chicken linguine with mozzarella, tomato and pesto. The small portion in the bowl was actually linguine, courgette and parmesan with two small slices of chicken breast. Disappointing doesn't even cover it. In the interests of fairness, the fish & chips that had been ordered by three of the others was a generous portion and described as 'delicious' This is far and away the best dish that this pub offers and the best value for money. Overall, it was a bad experience and the last one I will have in this pub. In an area that also houses the sublime Exhibition Rooms, the Bridge House and the Dolphin - the Dulwich Wood House is not worth your money or your patience.

Per my last review, we went again today & overall it is a nice pub. However the service leaves a lot to be desired with us having to chase three times to get our food. When it did arrive the order was wrong. I had the baby back ribs (which were ok but not a patch on those from the Rye), my wife ordered fish & chips, however was given an Aubergine salad. I am assured by her that it was nice, but not what you expect for what was suppose to be a Sunday lunch. Anyway I suspect that we will go again as the garden is nice. Overall all I can say is that it is ok.

Great pub. Has a large beer garden with bbq area for the Summer and a garden room for the Winter. Good range of beers and wine. The food was also great value. Definitely worth a visit.

Superb Youngs pub have used it since 1977 and it still has magic beers and a good staff public rapor. Lunches are pretty tasty not bad value, good for business meets and easy parking.

The Dulwich Wood House is set in a lovely area. It has a big outside area for when the wether's nice with a water feature and lots of space for the kids to run around. On a Sunday it is a great family friendly place for lunch and they serve enormous portions of beef, pork or chicken roast. They offer a children's menu along with having high chairs for the young ones. The waiter who served us was very attentive, friendly and helpful. He was patient with us and with the two toddlers which was great. The food came fairly quickly and was delicious. I don't think I've ever seen such big Yorkshire puddings. The drinks selection was good with a range of soft drinks, beers and wine. The only thing that let it down was the price. The roasts were just shy of £15 which although were a decent size I thought was a lot of money but if you don't eat out every day of the week it's nice to treat yourself once in a while.