We’ve been frequenting this pub ever since it reopened following new management last year (it wasn’t our kinda place pre-refurb) but haven’t got ourselves together to stay for lunch or dinner.

A recent sunny Bank Holiday saw us in their garden which, apart from the occasional screaming siren, was a beautiful sun trap.

We’ve spent enough time in the pub eyeing up other people’s food to know they mean business when it comes to grub. We went for one of their sharing plates – they do pork, lamb, beef and the trimmings on a platter but we went for monkfish, which we later found out was put on the menu on a whim and was the envy of all the staff serving us at the time.

The monkfish sharing platter. Want. Again.

For the record, it was delicious. We didn’t need the side dish of buttered cabbage but we ate it up anyway (hey, it’s good for you, sort of).

Honey cake with orange ice cream and lavender. Too pretty to eat, but we did.

The staff are so friendly here and the food pretty faultless – it’s the type of place you’d feel more than comfortable taking your parents (even the fussiest ones) knowing they’d enjoy themselves.

Tulse Hill Hotel, 150 Norwood Road, SE24 9AY