The Mansion

Thursday, January 01, 2009 - I thought the gastro and the pub bits would be a bit more, well, separate. If you are in time to get a table in the side bar, they are, but if not you might find yourself cheek-by-jowl with Guinness-drinking quizzers fielding questions between mouthfuls of quiche. Things started well with a massive hunk of warm bread. The portions ruined our appetites but came, generously, at no extra charge. Keeping up the value-for-money theme, broccoli and Stilton soup arrived in generous amounts, though very salty.

Saturday, November 22, 2008 - The Mansion is a fantastic sight on the road from Dulwich to Crystal Palace. It's a great bulky lump of Victorian architecture, as solid as a fortress, and dominates the landscape. Once it was merely a boozer called The Paxton but, since it was bought by Ben Sowton (the guy responsible for the terrifically groovy White House in Clapham), it's been transformed. The ground floor's painted black outside, the first floor's all brickwork with black trim...