New Local Restaurant Reviews Website

[Eats Dulwich]

19 hours ago, Ruffler said:

Love Substack! It’s home to a wide range of writers/subject matters. I subscribe to a couple of writers that I rate (Ottolenghi has recently started a weekly column on there and local food writer Helen Graves is on it too.) With a paid subscription you get the full article/blog but there’s also plenty of content that’s essentially free. I regard it as my own personal ‘magazine’ of writers curated by me! 

Thanks for your support - subscription to my Substack is completely free - you can read everything I write! 

[Eats Dulwich]

On 26/01/2025 at 20:06, Sue said:

Something you have to pay for isn't actually a "blog", is it?

Sorry for the delay Sue, I've been meaning to reply to this. As I said previously to other posts, you don't have to pay for my Substack. And you can donate to blogs i think if you want, so there is a similarity to the models (as well as differences, which I expect people here will now point out). 

Edited February 7, 2025 by Eats Dulwich

[Eats Dulwich]

Some new reviews up since I last posted here. Link below. Just to clarify I'm not a grifter, this is not a con or a scam to defraud the good people of SE22, I'm not flogging anything and even if I was I'm not exactly twisting your arm. If you don't approve don't click. You can donate if you want but you don't have to. Not many donate, though it would be nice of course if more did. I've been a professional writer for over thirty years and I now find I have more time on my hands so have decided to write primarily about things that interest me. If people object they are going to object. One thing I have learnt over those years is you can't please everybody! https://eatsdulwich.substack.com/ 

Edited February 13, 2025 by Eats Dulwich

[HeadNun]

SHOCK HORROR! Writer tries to earn a modest living by... writing. And has the temerity to (ambush / guerilla market) try to enlist local readers and subscribers. 

I'm enjoying it. Good luck to you, Eats Dulwich. 

 

[Jenniewrites]

Just subscribed to your Substack and v much enjoying it! Thank you - and you're a Spurs supporter too, like my OH and son, which adds an extra frisson. Was wondering what the food is like at the ED Picturehouse. Would anyone recommend? TIA 

[Eats Dulwich]

22 minutes ago, Jenniewrites said:

Just subscribed to your Substack and v much enjoying it! Thank you - and you're a Spurs supporter too, like my OH and son, which adds an extra frisson. Was wondering what the food is like at the ED Picturehouse. Would anyone recommend? TIA 

thanks - sorry if my last post sounded stressed - that's what being a Spurs supporter does to you!

I'd also be interested to hear about food in the picture house, though tbh there are so many places nearby for anything from a nibble to a blow out I'd probably head elsewhere unless the PH food is really good. 

[Jenniewrites]

Oh, we know the highs and lows of supporting Spurs only too well! Will probably stick to Maria's Tortilla tonight but will report back if we try the PH

[Eats Dulwich]

10 minutes ago, Jenniewrites said:

Oh, we know the highs and lows of supporting Spurs only too well! Will probably stick to Maria's Tortilla tonight but will report back if we try the PH

Would be interested to hear other views on Maria's Tortilla. New review of somewhere else up today. I was in a good mood when i wrote it- Spurs had just beaten Man U. https://eatsdulwich.substack.com/p/the-cherry-tree 

[Guest]

Bring back Adam Richman, the original and true food taster and cuisine reviewer, ALL DAY LONG.

 

[Eats Dulwich]

Hi,

Just a quick note to say it's six months since I launched Eats Dulwich. In that time I've reviewed 28 restaurants. Usually four or five a month except for a month when I came down with gout, which I guess is an occupational hazard. Don't say I don't suffer for my art.

Early on someone – Sue, I think – asked me what I'm going to do when I've reviewed every restaurant in East Dulwich. I'm nowhere near that point, but what I have found is that a lot of new openings have tended to be in Rye Lane, so the site has expanded to cover SE15, hence the slight change of name (still haven't had any cease and desist letters from anything with a similar name). 

Anyway, the site is still free, it would be great if as many readers as possible here can subscribe so that they automatically get new posts (when you try to subscribe the default might be paid subs but that's down to Substack, just tick the free option instead) as I don't post everything on EDF.

Obviously you can get reviews elsewhere if you want, but I think this is the only proper site for local East Dulwich people written by a local East Dulwich person.

If you like eating out please have a read. And if there are other places you think I should visit please mention them below and i'll do my best to try them.

Link here: https://eatsdulwich.substack.com/

 

[Earl Aelfheah]

Thanks for posting this. Really interesting. It would be good if you added a star rating, so that it was easier to do comparisons / see what your top recommendations are. Great blog though!

[Eats Dulwich]

22 hours ago, Earl Aelfheah said:

Thanks for posting this. Really interesting. It would be good if you added a star rating, so that it was easier to do comparisons / see what your top recommendations are. Great blog though!

Thanks, it's a real dilemma whether to do star ratings. A few people have asked me to do them but I've tried to resist as they are too reductive - people will look at them and won't read review! and they are difficult too - my last review of Victoria Inn, i'd give it five stars for value for money - how can you knock two courses for £18? – but 2 stars for quality - edible but nothing special. Which I guess is why some sites give star ratings for different things...

[Penguin68]

Maybe if you indicated what you were reviewing, pub, gastro pub, high-end gourmet, local Italian etc. - whatever classifications you wanted, then you need only indicate that your stars referred to overall quality in that category. So it it's pub grub then 5 stars means it's great pub grub, but not the same experience as 5 stars in a high end gourmet category. Your star system could then include implicitly value for money as well. 

[Eats Dulwich]

22 hours ago, Penguin68 said:

Maybe if you indicated what you were reviewing, pub, gastro pub, high-end gourmet, local Italian etc. - whatever classifications you wanted, then you need only indicate that your stars referred to overall quality in that category. So it it's pub grub then 5 stars means it's great pub grub, but not the same experience as 5 stars in a high end gourmet category. Your star system could then include implicitly value for money as well. 

That's not a bad idea, though I also want to keep the site as simple and user friendly as possibly. It's ultimately about getting a balance between being informative and being a good read. Stars are useful but I'd like people to read the reviews too. 

[Eats Dulwich]

Just a quick post to say that my restaurant reviews column is now one year old. There are 45 reviews here* - mostly of local places (some sadly now defunct, others thriving). There are a couple of recipes from a period when I couldn't afford to eat out, a couple of moans about my health when I couldn't eat out on doctor's orders and a couple of reviews beyond our manor. But the main thing is that it is a free, useful guide to local dining and, I hope, an entertaining read. You can, of course, pay to subscribe or follow for free to get the reviews directly into your inbox as I don't want to spam EDF with every review (doctor says I'm not allowed spam anyway).

The pictures below come from my two most popular reviews - Persepolis (new SE22 spin-off opening soon) and Norbert's, a great addition to East Dulwich.

Please have a read and please consider subscribing. Did I mention you can subscribe for free? 

 https://eatsdulwich.substack.com/ 

*It would have been 46 but one review didn't run because the meal was so disappointing. I try not to be negative. To paraphrase Boyzone (or is it Westlife?) I said it best by saying nothing at all. 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Eats Dulwich

[CPR Dave]

Which restaurant did you decline to write up?

[Spartacus]

Thumbs up for Norberts 

Good honest food, small no of seats but worth a visit 

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

5 hours ago, Eats Dulwich said:

Just a quick post to say that my restaurant reviews column is now one year old. . 

Happy birthday! I've just read a bunch of your reviews and really enjoyed it. You write Interestingly without being too ornate, and you manage to give a really good insight into the "vibe" of a place as well as the food.

Totally agree with your review of Rocca - it's simple, great food in a friendly atmosphere at a completely reasonable price, esp considering the location.