REVIEW: The Honor Oak, St German’s Road, Forest Hill

I do love hooking up with old flames. There’s something new to experience each time, things generally look better second time round and the wine always goes down very nicely – I’m talking about restaurants of course. I first came to The Honor Oak just over a year ago and back then I had a gargantuan and tasty meal, yet this time it’s even better and I’d be very proud to call this place my local. If only it wasn’t so far – nestled deep within Forest Hill. The place itself is a cosy, local pub with a well stock selection of quality wine by the glass, ales, restaurant at the back with open kitchen and private hire space upstairs. The Honor Oak has even been listed as an “Asset of Community Value by the Department of Communities and Local Government” – I’m not entirely sure what that exactly means, but it sounds impressive.

As for the food, it’s exactly what you’d want from your local – full of flavour and perhaps a few too many calories, washed down with a few too many glasses of wine – after all that’s what a local should be about isn’t it? Enjoying yourselves and still being able to crawl home, or hop on a train (aka taxi) in my case. We started our evening here with a fantastic well-pressed ham hock terrine with a solid homemade piccalilli. I had this same dish last time I visited but this time round it seemed a little more well executed and visually more vibrant. Perhaps it could have been ever so slightly more pickly, but it was still delicious. Even better was the crispy baby squid – perfectly golden and served with a punchy lemon & garlic mayonnaise.

And then the mains arrived. Meaty and smokey heart attack plates of food which will no doubt leave a lifetime of calories on the hips, and a few good minutes of flavour in the mouth. The highlight was the 10oz rib eye steak, served with triple cooked chips (which were excellent), grilled mushrooms and a thick béarnaise sauce for dipping. A lovely showcase of simple but flavourful British cooking at its best. We then devoured a 12oz pork chop with again those heavenly triple cooked chips, grilled mushroom and peppercorn sauce. The sides were all absolutely perfect and the chop was bursting with flavour. Downside? well the meat was sadly a little overcooked. It’s a hard piece of meat to cook well and even I can never quite manage a tender chop, but I’ve eaten many of them.

Dessert came in the form of an excellent sticky toffee pudding, drenched in a rich toffee sauce and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I’ve developed a bit of an obsession with this classic pudding of late and it didn’t disappoint here. The Honor Oak really is a lovely pub, with excellent food and even better service. If The Honor Oak is your local, then book a table now because you won’t find food in Forest Hill better than this. This pub/restaurant really is a hidden little gem and I can’t wait to come back again soon.