<![CDATA[Greater London - Southwark - Dulwich - Reviews]]> http://www.welovelocal.com Reviews from welovelocal.com en Makes a trip to the park very special http://www.welovelocal.com/en/london/southwark/dulwich/bike-shops/london-recumbents-se217bq.html#r51489 This is the secret weapon in the arsenal of child entertainment in Dulwich Park. Cafe? Check. Playground? Check. Lots of space to play frisbee and football? Check. Wild areas to go gruffalo hunting? Check. But you don't ususlaly get the opportunity to hire a trike with a huge bin on the front and pedal the kids round for an hour. There's a whole load of options here, from your standard bike with a kiddy seat on the back - so you can check if it's worth you splahsing the cash on buying your own one, through to bikes with enough spaces to carry the Waltons, through to ground-hugging recumbent kids bikes for the older ones. You can even stick the grandparents on a tandem. Prices are good, and even in the dark days of winter it gets everyone out the house for a while.

]]> Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:43:21 BST Run of the mill eatery on Lordship Lane http://www.welovelocal.com/en/london/southwark/dulwich/bars/liquorish-se228hu.html#r51449 Popped in here on a Sunday for brunch. Nothing spectacular, had a veggie breakfast. It had a really awful veggie sausage, looked like some sort of giant turd made out of bubble and squeak. Everything else was perfunctory. Service was good however!

]]> Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:26:45 BST My Favourite train station! (In East dulwich) http://www.welovelocal.com/en/london/southwark/dulwich/train-stations/east-dulwich-station-se228ef.html#r51019 My issue with this station is the appalling amount of rubbish around it. Peek over the fence - there's tonnes of it! Maybe I should accuse the fair citizens of East Dulwich of not throwing their litter in the bin - it's not too much to ask surely?!? There's no excuse for it, and it's a sign of very bad manners, mjind you, I wouldn't ask anyone to pick their litter up these days, not really in your best interests to get knifed over a crisp packet. Anyway, surely they could clear the litter up once or year? Get some of these young offenders everyone is so keen on these days to get in there and clean it up? Those of us who's gardens back onto the railway line suffer a year-round 'rubbish storm' blowing down the railway line, and I hold Southern Railways responsible! (But in these privatised times, surely they'll blame Network Rail or whoever it is owns the bits of track that aren't in the station or whatever!)

]]> Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:41:23 BST Great local florists/flower shop http://www.welovelocal.com/en/london/southwark/dulwich/florists/john-alan-flowers-se228hn.html#r50993 If you need a quality bunch of very beautiful flowers, come here. They also have a large assortment of flowers and shrubs etc in pots outside, so for a bit of floral giftage, drop in here! I'm happy to say i don't know a lot about buying flowers, but the staff here will, if you're a bit useless like me, guide you in the right direction.

]]> Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:20:38 BST Scuzzy pub no more, but it's gone a bit pretentious http://www.welovelocal.com/en/london/southwark/dulwich/pubs/the-plough-se228jj.html#r50687 This place used to be a right dive, but it's now had an East Dulwich makeover and has repositioned itself as a wannabe gastropub and a mum and baby hangout. The decor is really quite pleasant, but the sign outside is quite shirty and says something like: "The Mafia has 'omerta', football has FIFA....we all have rules, and there are rules to be obeyed." Yikes, I feel like I'm stepping back into the classroom when I go to this place. They are obviously trying to keep the former punters out because despite having hiked up the prices for food and scattered some cushions around the joint, the alcohol prices remain largely the same, therefore anyone who used to drink there will still keep on drinking there.

I've only eaten here once, but the food was mediocre and took AGES to arrive. Considering it was at lunchtime and I had to get back to work, this wasn't ideal.

Having said that, it's NOT all bad. There is a fantastically busy Baby Club on Fridays from 12 - 5pm (hurrah, they've cashed on the East Dulwich baby boom - clever people) and they've made a big effort to put on all sorts of entertainment. There is a pianist there a couple of nights a week, an open mic session, pub quiz, even a knitting club. I've not checked these out, so if anyone has been, do post up a review if they're any cop!

The outside area is pretty big, so in summer it's a great spot to loiter.

]]> Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:29:05 BST Lovely food and wine http://www.welovelocal.com/en/london/southwark/dulwich/bars/green--blue-se228hj.html#r50199 The effort the owners are putting into this place really shows. Great food and wine - from ordering a few nibbles to getting in lots of bits and sharing tapas style, this hits the mark. The wine is why you should come here though, staff will recommend wine for you, and are very good at helping you find something new, unusual and tasty.

]]> Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:05:53 BST suppliers of 'special stuff' http://www.welovelocal.com/en/london/southwark/dulwich/butchers/william-rose-se228hd.html#r47176 Great butchers. If you like meat, this is the place to come in the area. Everyone else feels the same way, as there are queues round the block most weekends, which invariably means I hardly ever visit. Can source you pretty much anything if they don't have it in stock, get your Xmas orders in early!

]]> Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:38:15 BST suppliers of 'special stuff' http://www.welovelocal.com/en/london/southwark/dulwich/butchers/william-rose-se228hd.html#r47176 Great butchers. If you like meat, this is the place to come in the area. Everyone else feels the same way, as there are queues round the block most weekends, which invariably means I hardly ever visit. Can source you pretty much anything if they don't have it in stock, get your Xmas orders in early!

]]> Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:38:15 BST