Review: The Dartmouth Arms, Forest Hill

Suspicious of everything, she loathes the internet, believing an unspecified individual or group – for reasons known only to herself and probably connected to the government – has nothing better to do than monitor her surfing habits 24 hours a day.

Much, if not all, of what is written on the World Wide Web is, in her eyes, simply false.

I normally dismiss her inane, borderline psychotic rantings but, in choosing this week’s review, I should have taken a leaf from her book.

This column was going to comprise my musings from Forest Hill’s Question Bar. I checked its impressive website and saw it was open between noon and closing time, Sunday to Thursday.

When I got there however, at 3.30pm on a Thursday, it couldn’t have been more closed, a tatty sign on the window displaying completely different opening times to those so fallaciously displayed at questionbar.co.uk Never mind.

Just down the road is the trendy Dartmouth Arms and it was there I came to rest.

I’ve never liked or particularly understood the term gastro-pub but The Dartmouth Arms seems to fit into the universally understood framework of that phrase.

Its menu is impressive, boasting starters including hummus, black olive tapenade, babaganoush and warm flat bread alongside a range of tasty looking mains.

The pub’s fruit and vegetables come from Borough Market, its meat is from Oxfordshire and fish from Billingsgate. In other words, the chef knows what s/he’s doing.

And that’s what I like about foodie pubs – they’re serious about their grub and that makes them serious about everything else they do.

There’s a casual coolness about the Dartmouth Arms.

A candle illuminates every table and local artwork sits modestly for sale on the barely designed walls.

There’s a fantastic wine list and an array of whiskies behind the bar. But those craving a quiet pint, as I did, are well looked after, with a small range of draught bitters including Doom Bar available.

While I was there, two flustered schoolboys burst in and demanded to use the phone as one of them had apparently lost his house key.

The barman quietly ignored their youthful lack of grace and gave over the handset.

Their call completed, they handed the receiver back without so much as a thank you, let alone any sort of offer of payment.

The barman didn’t make a fuss and just got on with it. And that’s what I liked most about the Dartmouth Arms. No fuss.

A hell of a lot of work has gone in to make it look as though it doesn’t have to try too hard.

Even though it is selling posh food and wine, it has kept everything clean, simple and blissfully free from ostentation.

The pub has a long, colourful history but it’s hard to imagine it has ever been in a better position to succeed than it is right now.

How the Dartmouth Arms rates:
DECOR **** (warm, but cool)
DRINK **** (lots to choose from)
PRICE *** (serious prices for serious drinks)
ATMOSPHERE **** (relaxed and peaceful)
STAFF **** (helpful and knowledgeable)

Address: The Dartmouth Arms, 7 Dartmouth Road, Forest Hill SE23 3HN

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