Clam Chowder Clam Chowder

Creamy and rich New England-style clam chowder with tender clams, potatoes, and a hint of herbs.

Dog Bull

Dog Bull

24/25 Surrey Street, CR0 1RG, Croydon, United Kingdom

Pubs • Pizza • Lunch • Drinks


"The Dog Bull has seen several styles of cuisine come and go over the last five or six years- burgers, steaks, pizza, Caribbean, and others. They have a new chef at the stoves now, who started last week, and I popped in with a couple of friends to try the new fare. The menu is far more interesting than it had previously been and it appears obvious that the pub is stepping up to compete with local rivals in the culinary stakes. This can only be a good thing, as central Croydon certainly needs more places where you can sit down for a good quality meal; the town centre establishments, with one or two notable exceptions, tend to offer either standard pub grub or takeaways only. Standard pub grub this most certainly isn’t. Amongst our starters, the lamb belly “chips” (essentially, lamb fish fingers) and clam chowder certainly hit the right notes but it was the potted shrimps that really stood out; I’ve had vastly inferior versions in expensive restaurants up in central London and these shrimps were so good that I could have had a second serving there and then. The mains were all delicious too; two of us chose the confit duck leg, which was beautifully succulent, and another had the chicken and tarragon pie, which he declared a resounding success. My goat curry (from the daily specials) was exemplary- in fact, almost as good as my own! There’s a decent selection of wines, both by the glass and by the bottle, and the pub’s selection of beers is both extensive and very well kept. Service was friendly and swift and the bill very good value given the quality of the meal. My next visit will be to try the Sunday lunch, which I’m certainly anticipating with relish. While it’s never going to be a “gastropub”, having been around for several hundred years and established as a true market street local, the Dog Bull has certainly elevated its cuisine by several notches now and it’s easily up with the best in the area. As I mentioned earlier, there’s been a high turnover of chefs here recently; let’s hope that this one stays for a very long time."