The Rosendale
our review
I liked the Rosendale immediately, it’s around the corner from my allotment, and it’s an old 19th Century Victorian coach house. The restored Royal Doulton tiled façade shines out like a beacon to all of us South Londoners deprived of decent local places to eat.
The Rosendale is a venture from Mark and Sharlyn van der Goot and the team behind the Greyhound at Battersea and has been luxuriously refurbished to create a grlll/bar area at the front with dining room behind, as well a large and well appointed garden area. In the bar a daily barbeque menu is up on blackboards and is cooked, we’re told, using a rare imported charcoal grill oven. The place is packed just two weeks after opening and Mark himself is running around keeping the orders flowing out while serving up a great choice of wines from his stock of over 400 producers with 20 wines by the glass.
Veg are sourced locally, eventually from the pub’s own mini-allotment, and meat is brought in from specially sourced suppliers and hung in their own cool rooms. It all sounds good but what’s on the plate? Home smoked eel with apple jelly and anchovy mayonnaise was packed full of flavour, combining a rustic simplicity with some deft touches and nice balance. Red mullet with a sweet corn puree, prawn bisque, girol mushroom and baby leaf salad also worked well, the red mullet was properly seared and toy town tiny it perched on the puree like a child’s hat on a fat man. The giroles, always tastier and more perfumed than their cousins the chanterelle and trompettes de mort, had nice bounce to the bite contrasting nicely with the puree and absorbing some of the bisque.
Barbary duck with summer cabbage, pancetta, potato and chive plus foie gras was a tad overcooked; the rosy blush so crucial to good duck had gone from the centre but was perfectly edible. The fole gras seemed a bit superfluous though and had been pan fried too much. Minor quibbles these as the whole dish had strong flavours and got full marks for using seasonal cabbage and not some poncy imported vegetables. Barbequed monkfish fillet with squid ink tagliatelle and a chickpea puree was a bold dish; pasta and chickpea puree is not on the face of it a combination that would work well. As it was the puree had, naturally enough, a hummus feel to it and coated the coal-black tagliatelle to good effect. Monkfish is a fish that suits a barbeque, its firm flesh unlikely to fall apart or stick to the grill. This too had been slightly overcooked to leave it rather dry but again this was a small criticism. A good gastro dish all round.
Desserts were robust; date and toffee pudding had a jolly British stick to the ribs quality that was leavened by the light caramel mousse and tart passion fruit sauce it came with. Triple chocolate mousse was the sort of thing choccy lovers go all gooey over, especially when partnered with rum soaked cherries, a crispy buttery shortbread and what I think was home made coffee ice cream.
The honesty and gut feel for good food that characterised the Greyhound have translated well further south to this lovely location and it’s well worth a visit, but I think you may have to book ahead if you’re not to be dissappointed.
N.H. - July 2007
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
What a lovely atmosphere! When you first walk in with the new layout of booths, you immediately get the warm feeling of privacy. Polite staff and a very funny manager assure you of a pleasant experience. The food is great and my wine was perfectly chosen for me by the manager, David who understood my ignorance. A few moments later I spotted him holding a baby to allow a guest to eat her meal with her six friends. What service! Love the place. I would reccomend it to anyone.
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Barry Berlyn
Overall rating 
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Friday, August 01, 2008
The Rosendale is uniquely situated in the centre of our residential area. Having sampled the fare two or three times since moving here in July, I found the staff and manager to be both friendly and willing to accomodate. We did not have a reservation for the Saturday night dinner but David was able to have a table ready for us within a few minutes while we waited in the bar.
The menu selections are good and the wines are open to all tastes. I think that while a lot of places are cutting back, there is no question that the willingness of the staff, the friendly family atmosphere and the amazing food are testament to a well managed business in difficult times. We'll be back!
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dorcy mcphee
Overall rating 
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
I live in the area and have been to the Rosendale lots of times. The wine list is the nicest in the area and the menu's are fantastic. The fact that all the food is sourced and everything is made in house even the smoked salmon.
I have not had a bad meal yet and I will carry on passing the good word to everone.
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M. Cox
Overall rating 
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, July 28, 2008
I live near to The Rosendale and was thrilled with the first meal I had there. The second meal was also good but not as good as the first. I ate there for the fifth time at the weekend and I think it will be the last. SUCH a shame. It was a shambles. The service was absolutely rubbish - we had to wait way too long before our drinks order was taken and then our mains arrived before our wine and then when we asked for ground pepper we got pre-ground-dusty pepper and then the ground pepper never appeared and then the second bottle of wine we ordered was not chilled so we had to wait 10 minutes for that (it was the same as the first bottle so it wouldn't have been rocket science to anticipate our ordering a second bottle and putting it in the fridge ...). These examples are just the tip of the iceburg. I think we were 'served' by 5 different members of staff which made me wonder if anyone was actually responsible for our section of the restaurant. Food was okay - service was rubbish. I was a little narked too as I'd been bigging up to our dinner guests how great it was.
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Phil Brown
Overall rating 
Food 4 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 6
Monday, July 28, 2008
As I live very nearby, I've eaten a number of times at the Rosendale, in the private dining rooms, in the restaurant and in the bar over the last few months. I have found the food quality to be steadily deteriorating and the service now so bad I simply wont bother eating here again.
When you eat in the restaurant the waiters clumsily lurch around you all the time, refilling you glass after each sip of wine and hurriedly taking away dishes, making the whole dining experience quite uncomfortable, as if you're intruding. There appeared to be no work station for the staff so they all cluster about the tables, hovering, staring. While the menu is undoubtedly interesting, the portions are small, too fussily presented and just too expensive. The bar food is good value but the service staff in the bar area are shockingly, laugh-out-loud rude which certainly takes the edge off however delicious your meal may be, when it finally arrives.
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Overall rating 
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Thursday, May 01, 2008
We wandered along for Sunday lunch on my 30th birthday after a slightly boozy party the night before, so were all a little bit subdued and very cold (snow in April?!). As predicted, it was pretty full of families, but a couple of tables were put together for us without any fuss (I had phoned to check if I should book for eating in the bar rather than dining room, and the exceptionally friendly man insisted he'd find the nicest table he could for us without booking).
We weren't quite up to tackling the milk braised ox cheeks, but settled down to some hearty plates of food in the bar - great sausages and mash, burgers and steak sandwiches and fishcakes. I feel positively inclined towards any place that serves Galloway beef, but in any case, I like the Rosendale. The bar can feel a bit cavernous and noisy, but I've found the staff pleasant (and attentive when it's less busy), and of course the fact that it's local makes it all the more enticing.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
I went to the Rosendale last Saturday night after a few months of anticipation. I had heard, from fairly reliable sources, of this amazing, award-winning gastro-pub in West Dulwich. I was not disappointed, at first. The interior is tastefully decorated and the atmosphere is vibrant. My first hint of disappointment came when I perused the rather dull and unimaginative menu. I then noted that our waitress wore the most anguished expression. I was on tenterhooks every time she was in the vicinity, expecting her to burst into tears. Service was extremely erratic, varying from the tragic and hopelessly incompetent waitress to a rushed, harried and mainly ineffectual Danny de Vito look-alike. Drinks took about twenty minutes to arrive. Many wines were not available. Food was mediocre and prices somewhat steep. Changes to the menu were not reported but alternatives were served without warning or apology. After registering a complaint about my pitiful single scoop of off-tasting vanilla ince-cream served in a ramekin (when I had ordered lemon curd ice-cream and was expecting something resembling a resturant standard desert), the staff stared at my group with stony contempt. We beat a hasty retreat! Sadly, my Rosendale experience was extremelyy anti-climactic.
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Sam Smith - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Monday, March 03, 2008
Its great to have such a good local place to eat. Not really a pub, but they do serve great beers, ciders and wines and the snacks in the bar are excellent.
Dining wise I have not been let down either.. The food, service and environment are all great. It is a bit echo-y as its a high ceiling / hard furnished room and as a result it can become a bit of a clamour... Finally Dulwichians and West Norwood-ites can have a great local place to go.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Overall the food was good but the service was very poor. Some of the wines we requested could not found/not available. White wine that was served with the starters was warm. An alternative that was brought to the table (already opened) was oxidised...
For a restaurant that prides itself in having a great wine list it was a disappointment.
Will probably try it again as unfortunately there's not much competition in the area.
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JH
Overall rating 
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Friday, January 25, 2008
Good food, nice venue and a relaxed place to spend a long lunch. Recommened
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John
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
