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The Forest Hill Tavern, Forest Hill - pub details

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Address: 108 Forest Hill Road, London, SE22 0RS [map] [gmap]

Tel: 0871 951 1000 (ref 30330) - calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras

Nearest train stations Honor Oak Park (0.8 miles), Forest Hill (1 mile), Nunhead (1.1 miles)

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> Current user rating: 6.1/10 (rated by 19 users)
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other pubs nearby:

Herne Tavern, Forest Hill (0.1 miles), Crystal Palace Tavern, East Dulwich (0.6 miles), Ivy House, Nunhead (0.6 miles), Clock House, East Dulwich (0.6 miles), Castle, East Dulwich (0.6 miles) - see more nearby pubs

user reviews of the Forest Hill Tavern, Forest Hill

please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.

5 most recent reviews of 39 shown - see all reviews

As this is a popular pub it is telling that nobody else has reviewed it.

That is beause the demographic that use this pub are the types who don't post on this site. The sort of demographic who will pay £4.50 for a pint of ale, £5 for pint of traditional cider (OMG this was always cheaper than beer in my youth) and £6 for the craft stuff, don't mind the architectural vandalism, and happy to breath in smoke as the outside fire pits aren't properly vented.

Which expains why I have only been there twice. But if this is your scene it is right for you.
baggydave - 8 Oct 2016 22:47
Judging by how busy this place has become since the refurb I am surprised that nobody has posted yet.

Transformed, renamed - the General Watson General Telegraph General or something like that

Marketing team have been in full force as it is packed, certainly at weekends, mainly 20 - 30 somethings. Not sure where they all come from (are you bused in or have you moved to the area?) considering it was so quiet before. Lost all sense of being a local and feels more of a continuation of Lordship Lane.

Decor has been blitzed, not all bad but the destruction of part of a fireplace surround to graft on a totally out of place fire hood should be classed as a crime, with a custodial sentence. The industrial theme is over the top amd makes other pubs that have done eclectic refurbs seem rather plain.

Beer range is good, bar staff on my one occasion attentive and friendly, the now becoming ubiquitous line of keg beers (aka craft ales) at up to sick squid a pint isn't to my taste (Emporer's new clothes).

I would have come back again but got fed of of waiting for people with mega rounds consisting of mixtures of shots. Made me feel very old, and whilst it brings the punters in the smooth funky jazzy music by the DJ aint to my taste.

One last comment, apart from fighting pubs is there reall any need for two bouncers on the door?
baggydave - 28 Apr 2016 11:58
Wow, all the advertising on this site is doing my head in. I'll scroll up so I can concentrate on a fair review.

Beer is generally pretty poorly kept, I've even decided to do something odd and order orange squash. On one occasion I was poured a flat pint, I jokingly comlained to be told off by one of the bar staff that it was the server's first day. Well that is an issue for you not me.

The attempt to mimic all the other pubs in the area and attract diners in never seems to work.

It was fine to watch the footy, but they have now stopped that as it apparently didn't bring the money in. I enjoyed watching the Chelski European semi against Barce in the Nou Camp as it was full of people generally interested in the sport rather than Johnny Come Lately's. So there was a niche here, but they didn't like it.

The Monday quiz seem decent and they try to get some interesting local music in as well.

I think 'should try harder' rather than 'failed' is the best summary.
baggydave - 11 Apr 2015 12:58
Surly staff. One knocked over my drink and despite promising to replace it failed to. The manager refused also. Won't be returning. Recommend people find somewhere with a better service and attitude.
tt_k - 19 Jun 2014 23:48
Have been going there for a couple of years, recently settled on it being our 'local' given the Sunday roasts were good, always room to sit, decent selection of drinks and a good beer garden out the back. Liked it there so much we booked the place for our daughter's small party of 40 people on a Sunday afternoon ... which evidently turned out to be a mistake.

Don't get mugged for the extra £75 for an extra bar member in the hope it'll make the staff and your guests lives easier. We were told by the manager that any drinks needed to be gotten from the main bar would then be fetched by this extra person. Not the case; guests ended up being pointed towards to main bar anyway. Oh, and we also ended up clearing our own tables of empty glasses, the bar member was busy texting.

Because most drinks were then bought at the main bar, one staff in particular decided to have a strop and backchat at least x3 of our guests seperately because they were being such a pain in ordering teas and coffees. Comments such as: "...what do you want, the coffee machine taken out the back?" etc. After we pointed out that the extra £75 we paid for a bar staff (£125 total, rather than the galling £50 charge for no extra staff) was doing little in our bar, another staff member chimed in with "oooh... it's only £125..."

Food quality was good, but given the party was from 1-5pm, we didn't get the single bowl of salad or humous on the table til 3:45pm. £380 was spent on food that half arrived towards the end of the party. The excuse from the rude staff member above was "oh well we've only got one oven" and with regards to the salad "you can take it home with you".

After being refused to speak to manager through the day "she's too busy", she eventually came down at 4:30pm where we highlighted the issues with the food but our main peeve was the attitude of most (not all) staff. The response? No accountability or actual apology; "I have said sorry (she hadn't) but I 100% back my staff, if they say they weren't rude or didn't say those things, then they didn't. My mum was at the bar (she wasn't)"

Galling, really. After that we tidied the rest of the room, cleared the rest of the empties, and left; feeling totally unwelcome throughout the day despite us and our guests contributing upwards of £700 to their takings.

The manager then emailed us later that night to apologise for the food and to a small margin of credit offered a 4 person dinner on the house. Yet there was no mention of any consideration towards the attitude of her or the majority of her staff. The offer was politely declined.
JimbobJoylove - 5 Mar 2014 01:43

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