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Gastropub in [[Locale Sydenham|Sydenham]].  It reopened in December 2006 after substantial refurbishment.

The decor is fairly minimal gastropub-style; stripped wood, etc. Unfortunately many of the tables are not very sensibly matched heightwise with the chairs &#8212; unless you have very slim thighs you might find your circulation getting cut off after a while. The beer garden is specially designed and certainly worth a look. There's also interesting tiling in the loos, both gents' [http://flickr.com/photos/rjw1/2280374898/ photo] and ladies' [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2283116312/ photo].

There are four handpumps on the bar.  When [[Kake]] and [[bob]] visited on a Wednesday afternoon/evening in February 2008, two of them were on, offering London Pride (&pound;2.95/pint) and Timothy Taylor Landlord; a cup of English Breakfast tea was &pound;1.70.  In November 2014, [[Kat]]'s pint of Tribute was well-kept.  In May 2016, the ales were West Berkshire Good Old Boy, Caledonian Edinburgh Castle, Purity Mad Goose, and Adnams Southwold Bitter; a pint of lime and soda was &pound;1.80.

On our February 2008 visit, it was fairly quiet during a midweek afternoon, but filled up in the evening.  Music was playing, mostly from the mid-90s (Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cure, Pink Floyd, etc.), not too loud for conversation.  By November 2014, the music seemed to have been updated a few years, and moved on to mid-2000s emo rock (Good Charlotte, My Chemical Romance, etc.).

According to their website as of May 2016, food is served noon-3:30pm and 6pm-9.30pm Mon-Fri; noon-9.30pm Sat; and noon-4pm (roasts) and 5pm-9pm (standard menu) Sun. Bar snacks [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2283053686/ photo of menu as of February 2008]) may be available in the afternoons. See [https://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/26657745794/ photo of main menu in May 2016].

In February 2008, [[Kake]]'s onion rings (&pound;2) were rather good, arriving hot, obviously freshly made, and comprising whole rings of red onion in a crispy batter. A shared starter platter of hummous, tapenade, and baba ganoush [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2282300639/ photo] was also really quite good, particularly the flatbread. For mains, [[bob]]'s cassoulet and [[Kake]]'s ribeye steak were both fine, and there were some particularly good button mushrooms with the steak. Service was very friendly, and generally quite competent, though there were minor niggles &#8212; no napkins or cutlery brought with the onion rings, and vinegar for chips was served in an entirely unsuitable milk jug. Glass-clearing was also slightly slow.

When [[Kat]] visited in November 2014, the Sunday roast was decent enough (&pound;12.50 for roast pork + trimmings).

They have free WiFi, which as of May 2016 is accessed by filling in a form with name, email address, etc, but doesn't seem to require any of this information to be actually true.

There is also a selection of newspapers available to borrow.

It's possible to reserve tables, at least in the evening.

Greg McCarroll adds:
* You can make reservations for Sunday lunch at least (i.e. during the day).
* I'm not sure I really like their proper gravy on Sundays, but I'm a gravy snob.
* Some of their small sharing dishes are great, e.g. they did croquettes of cod and mash that were great.
* They've also done very good Spatzle (an Austrian dish), I just wish it had some sauce with it.
* All in all, the best place to eat in [[Locale Sydenham|Sydenham]]/[[Locale Penge|Penge]] if you don't fancy a Chinese, curry, breakfast or kebab.

[[Kat]]'s verdict: I liked the general vibe of the place but I don't think my parents were convinced.

See also:
* [http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/comments.shtml/11802/ Beer In The Evening comments]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20080509191422/http://www.sydenhamsociety.com/03-06Dolphin.html History of the Dolphin] - essay by Steve Grindlay of the Sydenham Society
* [http://retrogooseuk.blogspot.com/2007/01/dolphin-sydenham.html retrogooseuk review]
* [http://forum.sydenham.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=728 Sydenham Town forum thread]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20100517011835/http://www.timeout.com/london/bars/reviews/10701.html Time Out review]
* [http://d1970p.blogspot.com/2007/09/dolphin-sydenham-high-street-south.html Layman's London review]
* [http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/the-dolphin-london-5 Yelp comments]

<div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]], May 2016. Opening hours taken from the Dolphin website, May 2016.</div>

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