A religious experience

I just consulted my copy of the Oxford Dictionary Of London Place Names in the hope it would confirm that the name Dulwich comes from the adjective 'dull'.

It tells me that in 1555, Dulwyche, as it was then known, was so named as the area was then a 'marshy meadow where dill grows'. So there you have it, I was right - dull.

In recent times Dulwich has established itself as a 'safe' part of London, a place where young, well-heeled folk bring up families in smart Georgian houses and with 4x4s parked in the streets. Nice place, but a bit dull if you're looking for something livelier than a game of bridge over your pre-prandial gin and tonic.

Things look set to change on the social circuit now that the Bishop has arrived in East Dulwich. The former workaday Foresters Arms has very recently been transformed into a fun and frisky, contemporary neighbourhood bar complete with all the (these days) essential nods to retro Seventies-style.

To those readers familiar with the growing number of quality venues along the South-East London corridor, the Bishop is the ecclesiastical sister-venue of the excellent Castle community pub in Camberwell. There are no prizes for guessing that the owner, Scott Collins (whose history includes running Clapham venues the Rapscallion, the Sequel, and the Royal Oak), is a fan of the board game chess, and that future venues might include the Pawn, the Rook and the Knight.

Whatever tomorrow might bring for him he should stick to his current, applaudable philosophy of bringing extremely highquality food and drink into appropriately comely and relaxed neighbourhood venues. The Bishop's wine list is a cleverly put together collection of some cracking numbers - all served in chic, expensive glassware - including a seriously good, zesty and citrusy 2003 Nelson Alexia sauvignon blanc (New Zealand, £23.75), and the soft and light 2003 Louis Bernard Cotes du Rhones always makes for a good, reasonably priced find at £14.50.

On the food front I strongly recommend a ramekin of warm haddock and parmesan with toast (£5) - other starters which don't disappoint are rabbit pate with toast and plum pickle (£5.50), and Cheshire cheese and onion croquettes with green tomato chutney (£5).

You'd have to travel a very long way to get better quality food for your money when it comes to the main courses. A lean and succulent organic rump steak with horseradish sauce costs just £9, a tender and juicy fillet steakburger £6.50, and a roast chicken, crayfish and asparagus pie £6.50. Table service is swift and efficient.

My spies tell me that it attracts a mature set of local punters on weekday lunchtimes, but in the evenings, when I visited, it was packed with appreciative young-at-heart punters who were revelling in this Dulwich delight.

I can't recommend this place highly enough.

The Bishop
27 Lordship Lane, SE22 8EW