The Bull — Restaurant in London

I had high expectations for this local pub but was sadly very disappointed!

I made a garden table booking for a sunday roast on the may bank holiday weekend. On arrival we were lead to an area which was in the shade and next to a table of smokers. I asked if we could kindly be moved to another table and the waitress found us somewhere to sit. The table was much nicer and a bit more out of the shade and we appreciated that effort which added to this rating. After being seated at our new table we waited a further 10/15 minutes for a menu, which we ended up having to retrieve ourselves. We then had to wait for 15 minutes till we could catch the attention of staff to take our drink order and further 10 for our food order.

We then proceed to wait for our roast and we were very hungry at this point but excited for our food. We order the chicken, vegetarian and beef roast which all came out beautifully presented. I didn't wait around and quickly took my first bite of the vegetarian roast and it wasn't pleasing. The entire dish was floating in a bed of celeriac purée which over powered every flavour and made the dish quite mushy and sickly. The beef roast was extremely chewy and again bathing in horseradish which was over powering even if you like horseradish. The chicken roast was good.

This issues could have been easily solved if we were able to get the attention of the staff or if they asked how are meal was going... Instead, I had to uncomfortably make the waitress aware of the issue as she collected my barely touched plate of food. She was very nice and apologiesed and said she would ask the manager to come out to speak to us. When the manager came out he offered us a refund on the vegetarian and beef roast and didn't really ask what went wrong or how else the issue could be resolved as we were leaving hungry. We had plans to stay a while and have a few more drinks however our time was cut short as we were incredibly hungry...

Brilliant hospitality.

Mid-afternoon and famished following a trail walk at Box Hill, we popped in to The Bull hoping for a table. No reservation, but we're delighted to get a comfy high table in the bar area.

We were welcomed warmly by Lizzie, who was brilliant. As a coeliac I requested the allergens menu, and she walked me through options. There was a lamb shank special which ticked all the boxes, and she ran to the kitchen to nab the very last one for me. So nice to not have to compromise on what I want to eat due to dietary needs (which can be frustrating!).

Food: lamb shank dish was incredible, and for me, the best pub lunch (roast style) I've had in years - all elements were so delicious, generous and well presented. My partner had the roast beef, which was cooked impeccably. He was equally impressed.

Our little dog enjoyed fuss from many of the staff, and the whole team seemed to interact and support each other well on what is a super busy day (observations from an ex-hospo person).

We have been Streatham locals for five years, yet had never eaten here. This meal has marked the entry of some new regulars into the fold. A++ for Lizzie - we look forward to visiting again....

Very disappointed with my last visit. We normally go to the Bull for special occasions (birthdays etc ). Tonight we were in for my daughter's birthday. Took a while to get seated as there were no staff around. After we got to the table, a drinks order was taken and 10 minutes later we were asked if we were ready to order. We were still waiting on one member of the party to join so we said no. The last person arrived but it was at least another 20 minutes before anyone came to take our order. That was the last time anyone came over to our table to ask if we needed anything. Any time we needed more drinks we had to go up to the bar to order ourselves. When we finished eating, nobody came to clear the table. We wanted to have a birthday cake so I went up to ask for some plates. Still nobody cleared any plates or glasses from the table. We resorted to piling plates on another nearby table while we had cake. It had been over an hour since we finished eating and we still had all our plates and glasses around us. Really disappointed as this was normally our treat dinner as it's more expensive than other local options. Oh, and of course they stuck on 12.5% tip for the total lack of...