Pullens Dinning Room & Bar

I’ve been a customer for over 10 years so admit to some bias. Just want a place to meet and catch up with friends over a bottle of red? It’s yours. Brunch on the weekend? It’s the place to be. Evening dinner with an eclectic menu? Try the duck, the liver or Alan’s (legendary) Fish Pie. Wild boar has graced the menu in the past, as has perogie, lamb shank and I mustn’t forget the jerk chicken salad. The staff, of course, are wonderful.

Visited Pullens for an evening meal on a Saturday night.
Food: poor, I had steak which was bland and tough, my girlfriend had sole which was very oily. The menu is small but unfortunately this does not mean that it is refined.
Service: poor/​average, we had to wait for a very long time to order even though the restaurant was not at all busy. Food arrived quickly once ordered. Waitress was not very friendly.
Value for money: very poor. This place is vastly overpriced.
Summary: Go here for a coffee, but not an evening meal. Your money can be far better spent elsewhere

Looking for some brunch on Sunday I came upon this cute little place. It has a rustic feel about it that I thought was adorable and paired with the twinkly lights along the wall it was very pretty.
While I would have just missed the breakfast menu the waitress said she could squeeze on another order so there was no need to worry. I have to note the waitress was incredibly polite throughout and created a lovely atmosphere for the customers which was great to see.
I got smoked haddock with eggs and toast which was delicious and my boyfriend got the eggs Benedict with salmon which he also enjoyed very much. It was definitely a filling brunch.
The place is great for families, friends checking out the market outside and for couples having breakfast and then a walk in the park. If you are in the area you can check it out.

Pullens is a nice little place with a laid back bohemian atmosphere. The staff are friendly and attentive and the food and wine is fairly priced.
It’s the kind of place you meet up with a couple of friends for a casual meal and catchup. It won’t amaze but it doesn’t need to, it does what you’d expect and it does it well.

What a disappointing experience for a Sunday morning breakfast. Incredibly slow service (we had both finished our drinks long before the food arrived), got the order wrong (fried egg arrived instead of poached, and they forgot the sausages), and also felt ripped off by the sausages. £2.50 for two almost cocktail sized sausages, put a sour note on an otherwise good value breakfast. Plus my butter sachet was in my beans!
Will not be going back.

Pretty hit or miss. Pullens was described to me as the place to go for a special occasion, the best restaurant in Herne Hill. I will not be taking that person’s recommendations seriously anymore.
One fish dish was very very good. Unfortunately, it was not the dish that I ordered, so I only got a taste. I wasn’t that hungry, so I had a crab starter that featured two kinds of crab, both of which were dry and lacking in flavour. Dessert was the Fig Tart Tatin — ok, but a bit odd.
If I recall correctly, they also charged for the bread refill, which was not stated anywhere. This was once we finally got our bill, on two counts: 1) it took forever, and b) we got the bill of the next table over, and no apology was made for the mixup. Finally we decided to just hunt down the waitress, as she clearly wasn’t paying attention to our room anymore.
«French» food, but truly classic British service.

I absolutely love going to Pullens, whether daytime or evening, with my little boy or with friends or even for a romantic evening with the other ‘arf. The staff are friendly, the food is good and unpretentious, and it’s just a lovely, quirky, friendly café/​bar, not trying to be anything other than what it is.
It’s child-​friendly but civilised at the same time. It doesn’t have a kids menu but they’ve always been fine about just doing eggs on toast or something for my son.
Particularly recommend the veggie breakfast with giant mushrooms and bubble and squeak (they call it ‘fried potato cake’ but it’s bubble and squeak really).

My first visit to Pullens this eve was very successful ! I went with a couple of friends & have nothing but praise for Pullens. Originally we were doing to try Bar 22 but with not a soul in there & severely lacking any atmosphere we tried Pullens. Busy, friendly, super food & no complaints. Although the loos that were practically in their kitchen !!

Pullens is clearly a popular restaurant. The service was prompt, polite and could not be faulted. The food was prompt, well presented, full of flavour and could not be faulted. The cost of the meal was very reasonable.
Would certainly go there again if i lived in the area!

I noticed that Pullens got a spread of reasonably positive and fairly negative reviews. My experience has been largely positive.
I’ve not experienced dodgy or rude service. The orders have always been correctly remembered and served. Chips, yes, could be better — that’s the penalty for using refried chips rather than real potatoes.
Overall, I think for a local café cum restaurant with plentiful outdoor seating for sunny lunchtimes and with mains for £5 it is both reasonably priced and. .. well, reasonably cheerful.
The loos could be better but hey, this is an Edwardian building squeezed up against railway lines and is higgledy, piggledy in every way. .. it’s quirks are part of it’s charm.

I have found the staff super friendly and helpful, the food delcious and the atmosphere of this place really relaxing. It is even better now that they have pedestrianised the road and sitting outside there a couple of weeks ago after a trip to Brockwell park ended a perfect afternoon. Make me feel welcome with my baby and make those little special extra efforts with individual needs and requests which is real treat for a London café.

Food is ok but staff very pretentious verging on arrogance. Not coming back.

I’ve never been overly impressed with Pullens, having had shoddy service in the past — waiters not writing down the order then coming back to ask again, plates slammed on the tables, stuff like that — but took a friend there a couple of days ago for lunch as she’d never tried it. I noted again the lack of exciting vegetarian options and the steep prices, but opted for an omelette and chips, which I had to order separately (note that Café Provencal, 5 minutes walk away, serves lovely wedgey chips with their omelettes).
Luckily we were so busy catching up we didn’t notice how long our food took to come, even though it was pretty quiet in the restaurant. Our chips arrived first, dumped unceremoniously in front of us in bowls, more greasy than fluffy. At least five minutes later the omelettes arrived, but thankfully these were very nicely cooked and I was so hungry by that point that having my chips as a starter worked well.
I think I’ll generally continue to avoid Pullens until something happens to make them a really standout place, as it is there are better options on the doorstep that are more deserving of my cash — at Café Prov the staff know how to smile!

Went to Pullens last weekend — we had not been there in a while. Overall, it is a good place to eat in the area, however, classics always turn out not quite how you imagined them.
Last weekend I ordered moules frites — the frites were big greasy wedges of potato. In my mind I had imagined a bowl of light fluffy thinly-​cut fries that would soak up lashings of mayo. Alas.
Coffee is ok. Not the best baristas in the world, but hey, this is London where the coffee is not an art.
Past meals have been memorable, not necessarily for the food, but for the atmosphere. It is wonderful when it is candlelit, tres romantic.

Pullens is a chic twist on the traditional English restaurant. There is nothing particularly outstanding about this place in my opinion, but it serves good food, has good service and all of their meals are reasonably priced. I got a full English here for just under a tenner and devoured everything on my plate. It has a nice atmosphere. It’s right by Herne Hill station so if you want to dine at a nice place for breakfast before you get on the train or for dinner after work this is a great choice.

In the midst of a frantic schedule, maybe what you want is to have a nice comfortable and relaxing break before having to set about business again. This is exactly what you will find in bohemian French restaurant Pullens next to Herne Hill station, except perhaps «comfortable» doesn’t work in it’s favour. From a distance you can easily the signs: the blue checked table cloth, the striped canopies, the dim romantic lighting; it’s all very subtly calling out «we’re French», and if you’re like me you would usually associate French cuisine with refined quality.
I’m a big fan of French dining, however, I was a little disappointed with Pullens. The interior was comfortable (despite the table cloths being made from plastic); and the service was efficient, friendly, and pleasantly informal (despite the fact when I ordered a cup of tea they had no tea bags, but they quickly resolved this and deducted the tea from my bill). From the lunch menu – after being tempted by les moules frites, and the duck with puy lentils – I ordered the chicken liver pâté on baguette. Despite being very well presented, my baguette appeared to be two slices of buttered granary bread (not overly French), the salad was too strong and overwhelmed the pâté, and the pâté itself (although plentiful) was far too chilled and even with the parsley garnish, lacked depth of flavour to be enjoyed properly. The coffee, however, was extremely good although the range to choose from was moderate.
Yes, I was a little disappointed with Pullens, and with the total of my still coming under the £10 price-​range, I felt I had been Fleeced. This place lacks the integrity which is at the heart of French cooking; instead (even with my gripes) it unfortunately settles for comfortable.

I pass Pullens daily, as it’s right by Herne Hill station, but have never found the time to pop in. Pop in tonight I did however, and was pleasantly surprised — the place is always teaming with people both inside and outside, and as the weather was on our side tonight, a couple of us sat outside with some drinks and food.
We shared the white truffle ravioli which was amazing, some cajun-​style potato skins which were such a generous portion for only £3.95, and some moules and frites (mussels and fries). The moules and frites were on the starter menu, but big enough for a main. The restaurant was busy, but service was quick, and nice. Not too expensive, it came to under £30 for three people, with drinks included.
The atmosphere is absolutely lovely, and it’s so nice to just sit outside and watch as the world walks past.