I went in on Thursday night and had an excellent pint of Brixton Effra and liked the atmos a lot. I'll be going back. Good luck to the team.

Had a couple of pints on Saturday afternoon. Nice enough pub but nothing special as yet. If they want to sell themselves on craft beer they need a much wider range. Hopefully something will be done on this. Had a quick look upstairs and I doubt the range of spirits is the widest or best in south London either.

There was one member of staff who seemed a bit surly. She seemed to be more senior than the others on shift. Will give her the benefit of the doubt. It must be quite stressful trying to open a new pub and I don't think everything is running smoothly yet. The other staff seemed really friendly and keen to do a good job.

I've not had the food yet and am looking forward to trying it.

Overall it is a good idea that needs a little bit of tweaking. It should get better as it beds in. It should also provide further competition and drive others to improve.

New businesses might want to take a leaf out of the Perry Vale's book, which hit the ground running with very little tweaking needed. It was clear from the off what their 'offer' was (and still is) and their staff are universally lovely. I went there on the second night of the soft opening and was impressed enough to return several times since, confident that I know what I'm getting.

By contrast, I went to the Railway Telegraph a few weeks after its relaunch and was very disappointed by the food and the atmosphere. Haven't been back.

The Signal can't afford to take too long to bed down.

In the Signal's defence (and I haven't been in yet so am not commenting on it as such), the Perry Vale is not entirely new territory for the owners - they have a very successful operation in Camberwell and as I understand it, while the PV is different, there was already a winning formula in place in the Camberwell business so tweaking might not have been such a concern there.

The Signal is a new venture for the people involved and I think the plan is for it to be the blueprint for further offerings - it therefore will take a little time to bed in and tweaks will be necessary until they find what works - but yes, if tweaks are needed then they do need to be made reasonably swiftly if they want people t come back and give it another go

My problem is with publicly setting out a mission statement that on opening appears to not be realised. Here's what they said (source Forest Hill society website interview):

"The pub’s main drinks offer will be focused around craft beer and rotating local ales".

That's simply not the case. Carlsberg is not a craft or local beer, neither is Estrella, neither is Aspinalls a craft or local cider, neither are most of the other beers on offer. They have one Brixton beer and one Meantime I believe. I did a quick search and there are about a dozen breweries within 5 miles of Forest Hill including really good ones like Gipsy Hill, Brockley, Four Pure and Kernel (that's in addition to Brixton and Meantime). If you are genuinely committed to craft beer and rotating local ales then I suggest you would have more than just the two on offer (particularly since the Meantime on offer is now fairly ubiquitous across London).

I'm not in the pub trade but I'm guessing that you probably make more profit per pint on bland mass-produced rubbish like Carlsberg...

That said, it's early days and I hope they do succeed as that really is (along with the Dartmouth Arms) a real cornerstone business location in Forest Hill and it would be good to see it thriving. Though I really am very sad to see the Comedy and Music that the Hob offered seemingly removed from Forest Hill fabric for good.

Not sure if i agree that this is a new venture for those involved....
Enterprise have a large portfolio of pubs and Rupert Clevely (who i understand is behind this venture as part of Enterprise's 'Managed Expert' model) is hardly a newbie at this sort of thing, as he's done very, very well out of the whole gastropub phenomenon (if you can call it that?!) http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Opera...enture....
My feeling is that the original 'offer' was rather more fluff and PR speak than reality, but i hope to be proved wrong and maybe there will prove to be a bit more heart to it than just rolling out a new 'gastro' formula.

Quite surprised that with so much experience in the business they've not hit the ground running, but it is early days.
Time will tell.

Actually, the Perry Vale is quite a new concept for its owners as, firstly, they are in a different area from the Crooked Well and, secondly, whereas the Crooked Well is a gastropub, PV is a bistro (although I would describe it as a restaurant) .

PV has, in fact, done a lot of tweaking. They appear now to have collared the lunch time market by introducing their two course for £10 menu Tuesday to Fridays, they will shortly be opening on Monday evenings with BYO, and will be introducing 20% early bird discounts in the evenings. They engage with their customers, take on board customer comments and are constantly looking to improve their product, as are the owners of All Inn One.

Early days yet, and they need a chance, but the Signal has so far not replied to comments on the Forest Hill Society''s interview with them and subsequent queries. I am also interested to ascertain what disabled facilities they have.

I do hope that the Signal will not become just another "take it or leave it" establishment.

Agreed the Perry Vale has done some tweaking around pricing and offers. But the core business - the food, the atmosphere, the staff - were all in place from the off. In other words, I knew what sort of place it was and what standard to expect (a very high one, as it turns out). A new (or revamped) pub needs to do the same: make it clear to patrons from the get-go what sort of pub it is, what marks it out. Whatever tweaking is required afterwards, that needs to be in place first.

Agree with comments about the PV bistro - very astute of them to listen and refine what they've done, and they deserve every success; i'm a big fan. My worry about the Signal is that they probably don't need to engage as much, as this is about setting the 'premium' (whatever that means) gastro pub model for Enterprise Inns to roll out over other pub properties. It's about creating something that will work over a heck of a lot of sites, from what i can tell, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but i don't know how they are going to square that with all the local, touchy, feely, craft beer, community hub talk they seem to have started with. I agree, i hope it won't end up a 'take it or leave it' place, but the need to deliver for shareholders may take precedence over active engagement with the locals. Wish they'd found a place for the comedy to continue but i don't reckon that fits the model...

Completely agree with the last two posts.

However, shareholders won't benefit if sraff demeanour drives custom away!

Geronimo Inns sold their 26 pubs to Youngs in 2010 for £60 million so hardly inexperienced operators. I don't think the comedy was ever in the business plan as not much money in it. With that experience it should be a financial success but not sure it will add anything to the community of Forest Hill. I hope i'm wrong.

Fair enough - as I say, I haven't been in yet (and hadn't realised the operators were part of quite such a big organisation).

I do hope it succeeds as a pub in that location really should.

I shall be taking Mrsldrz there next week, shall report back. Mrsldrz used to work in the hospitality trade and is very critical so will give you her edited version as well (I am very much a "is the beer cold and alcoholic and is the steak tasty" person).

I'm going next week too, will report back also! Am really hoping it is good, it's so nice to be able to walk to nice places to go out instead of getting a train or bus.

Catfordborders. Mrsldrz and I had lunch at The Perry Vale a week ago. She was positively glowing when we left, superb staff, management and food. No need for a bus or train.

Went to the Signal yesterday and was pleasantly surprised.
Very friendly, helpful staff - quite a few of them- and not a surly face in sight!
Double gin and Fevertree tonic cheaper than double gin and Schweppes in the Dolphin and therefore presumably the Dartmouth Arms.
A few more smaller tables in the main section of the downstairs bar would be good.
Did not eat, but judging from the menu, food appears realistically priced and good value for money. Snacks such as sausage rolls and chips served all day.
Pub was filling up rapidly from around 4 30 pm when lights were dimmed.
Having been open only a week it would not be fair at this stage to compare the Signal with other bars/ restaurants in the area, but I think it is going to be a success.and deservedly so.

Ate their this evening - both chicken and burger were delicious. They also had a few craft beers - hobo lager and fat yak iPa, which I think are new additions since I first went in. Overall, it's a good pub and i think raises the game for others in the area which is fantastic. The staff have taken a bit of a knock on this thread and I found them to be attentive and a long way from surly.

I've been in a couple of times recently and think it's great. There was live music last time I was there and I think it offers a more lively atmosphere than the other pubs/restaurants nearby (Dartmouth Arms, Perry Vale, Canvas & Cream).

Staff were utterly charming when we ate. The food was good and I would happily eat there again, but in my view not as good as the places I mentioned above.

Good addition to Forest Hill. Have been twice now on Friday night and had a good time. Drinks dont seem overly priced and its got a bit of atmosphere.

Have yet to try the food but it looked OK. The menu looked a bit limited which i think is something they can improve on.

Someone give me a burger! I'm dying to try it.