The Dartmouth Arms, Forest Hill, SE23

Official site of The Dartmouth Arms - meatliquor.com

Official site of The Dartmouth Arms - meatliquor.com

This pub, handily located right next to Forest Hill station, has a fairy unusual three room layout with a lounge to the front, a small bar area in the middle and dining room to the rear. You enter into the bare boarded lounge which has large arched front windows, cool 70's style retro wallpaper and lamps, padded chairs including a few armchairs, and a very small hatch through to the bar, access to which was blocked by a table directly beneath it. A bookcase on the end wall was well stocked with books and board games and a large TV screen remained off throughout the duration of my visit. You pass through a doorway to the left in order to reach the compact main bar area which has sufficient space for a couple of tables to the left but not much else. The bar runs down the right-hand wall and is fairly boxy and unattractive in appearance with a plain counter and simple bar back. dark painted walls give the room a somewhat cosy initial feel, but there simply isn't the space to exploit this and pretty much all customers were forced into either the front or rear rooms as a result. Another doorway leads through to the dining room - a surprisingly large bare boarded space full of pre-set tables which looked like a no-go zone for the drinker. the furniture all looked to be quite good quality and the decor suggested a degree of refinement which I'm not entirely sure the food is likely to live up to, although I haven't tried it myself so should reserve judgement. A quick visit to the Gents unearthed some very unexpected National Imagery and Mapping Agency maps of obscure Iraqi villages above the urinals, the significance of which I can only wonder at. I'd heard this place normally had a few cask ales on, and I wasn't disappointed, with a choice of three on the bar - St Austell Tribute, Harvey's Sussex Best and Black Sheep Blitzen. The Tribute was in good nick and served to me by a smiley, if somewhat robotic, barmaid. I quite enjoyed settling down in the lounge with my beer and there was an accompanying soundtrack of old pop tunes which ranged from enjoyably nostalgic to totally naff. This is a pretty good pub with a pleasant lounge and some decent enough beer to tempt me to return. The nearby Sylvan Post will always be my default Forest Hill pub of choice and the Wetherspoons is also a very good bet but this provides a solid alternative should a change of scene be required and I can imagine finding myself back in here in the not too distant future.

The Dartmouth Arms is just down from the Bird in Hand. Once inside there is an oblong shaped room to the front which has no proper bar,this room was packed with diners who seemed a lot more upmarket than me,but that is not hard,the seating here is normal tables and chairs,the bar is up a few steps to the rear left,this is a small square shaped area with one table and chairs,there is another room to the rear which seemed more like a dining room,so i opted to have a drink in the front room which had one spare table to sit at,it is bare boarded throughout. There were three real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Harveys Wild Hop which was a decent drink,the other beers were St Austell Tribute and one from Camerons which i could not make the name out when looking at the pump clip. This is more of gastro pub with limited seating for drinkers like me. Not my type of pub at all. Pub visited 14/5/2016

This place is dimly lit with an open kitchen and restaurant area at the rear for the serving of gastro fare. Broadside, Pride and Landlord were all available during my visit along with a premium lagers selection. The Guinness was off and the Landlord was not the best I've had, but it was unavailable when I left so I was probably drinking the bottom of the barrel. This place is one for gastro fans and as I'm not one I don't plan on returning.