Tulse Hill Hotel, Tulse Hill, SE24

Super disappointed with this place as sort of feel it should be a worthwhile destination. So arrived here, immediately desiring thawing out after the Artic experience in the Bullfinch, only to be greeted with four hand pumps all beating a disappointing surrender. Venue was buzzing with lashings of millennials here for their smash burgers and the GK quiz. I assume that is General Knowledge rather than Greene King as it would have cause a meltdown amongst the young crowd to be faced with a barrage of Q’s around the history of the Bury St Edmonds brewer rather than current flavour of the month c list celeb love lives. I do agree there were some interesting keg options (witness the tap with the famous pink elephant) but I had to massively downgrade as I spect the lack of cask options GC pointed out in his review and still true now is a massive failing. The space is lovely especially after dark with the sumptuous lighting but so wasted IMHO, but I suspect I am not the target market here. Five mins into the quiz and definitely the predictable version of a GK quiz - glad I didn’t enter and pay by quid at this stage!

A big Victorian building overlooking the traffic system, done up quite reasonably in traditional style. The main room has a lounge area and a high-tabled section, a smart dining area adjoins and there is a large tabled garden beyond. Very disappointing to find the 5 handpumps had all reversed clips. The barmaid thought that the Signal Completely Fuggled was on, but one taste confirmed it definitely wasn't. There were a couple of slightly less usual craft amongst the keg taps so I had to settle for something cold and fizzy. GK IPA was one of the other missing ales. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt in the rating - at least they were trying to have an interesting ale on - but they need to manage the casks better.

Landmark hotel-style pub on a busy junction just over the road from Tulse Hill station. You enter through a small front patio seating area to a rather swanky looking front room with dark wood flooring and similarly dark walls, which combined to create a bit of a gloomy feeling on a very hot summer’s day, but I can imagine it might feel quite welcoming in colder months. Plenty of basic and comfortable seating has been mixed in throughout the room, offering a good choice of places at which to settle down. The servery is on the rear wall and has a nice dark wood counter and a fairly standard, characterless bar back. Beyond the bar, there is a large space full of formally set tables, which didn’t seem very welcoming to the casual drinker. This area is marginally brighter than the front room, thanks mainly to walls painted in lighter shades and some rear doors that can be opened out to the garden. I noticed some smart frosted panes and original woodwork, but overall, I found the place awkward and difficult to warm to, so I retreated to the nice, green-fringed patio garden which has bench booths around the perimeter and lots of typical garden furniture through the centre, with a pop music soundtrack playing which wasn’t audible within the pub. There are five handpulls on the bar and the options on this visit were By The Horns Tropika, Greene King IPA and Truman’s Swift. A real cider made up the numbers, with the final pull left unclipped. The Tropika was a hefty £4.70 a pint and really rather poor – probably a victim of the extreme weather and perhaps not reflective of the usual standard of beer quality. This is quite a nicely presented pub with a pleasant garden and comfortable seating areas. I found it a bit tricky to settle down in this pub and was glad it was still warm enough to enjoy the garden on my late-evening visit. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt on the ale quality and might consider a revisit when I’m next passing.

The Tulse Hill Hotel is a large pub that is situated by a very busy road junction. Once inside this seemed to be quite a smart pub which has been opened out,the front area where the bar is is oblong shaped with the bar facing,the room is bare boarded,there is a mix of seating type with some tall tables and chairs and normal tables and chairs,there is another opened out room to the rear left which looked more like a dining room. There was a decent choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Hackney Best Bitter which went down well,the other beers noted were Dark Star dark Side,Hop Studio Renegade IPA, GK IPA and Ship Full Sail which i think may be a GK beer. There was decent background music playing. I thought this was a comfortable and pleasant pub to have a drink in,though the yummy mummy's were appearing well before 12 on a Saturday dinner. Pub visited 16/4/2016

Official site of Tulse Hill Tavern - www.tulsehillhotel.com