The Sparrow Hawk

Great Sunday roast with friends, beef was tender and medium rare as requested. Delicious crispy potatoes cooked in goose fat. Staff was very friendly and attentive

I have to give this darling restaurant/​bar five stars because the atmosphere, drinks, waitstaff, and most of all, the food was outstanding. We walked over last night — Friday night — for dinner and drinks (with a reservation) for five of us. The place was packed, but pleasant, and we got drinks served right away. Nice inventive menu, not at all the usual pub fare, and I ordered the smoked haddock with mash, purple sprouting broccoli, poached egg & grain mustard sauce — omg it was so wonderful. It was smoked but moist with a perfectly poached egg which blended into the sauce. Sat on top of a mound of yum mashed potatoes with crisp broccoli on the side. Other popular dishes at the table were the cauliflower macaroni and cheese (like homemade), Autumn Veggie Tart, Mussels with Leek and Cider Broth (big meal-​sized portion) and Split Pea Soup (lots of delicious ham) and side sausages. Dessert? Barely room but since we’re on vacation… Cheesecake with raspberry sorbet, and an order of sticky toffee pudding for my friend. What a great meal, reasonably priced. Then we stayed for 2for1 drinks starting at 9:30 — a coffee martini wound up my dinner in a very nice way! Glad I could walk back and at least work some of it off! Located in the triangle, a safe lively spot in Gipsy Hill. Recommend! And get a reservation if it’s on a Fri or Sat night.

Decent place but the food is very expensive.

I have been here a couple of times — both when it was very busy and when it was empty, and although I like the layout, the idea and the décor, I wasn’t completely wowed either time.
The first time I came here, it was a Saturday evening and the place was packed. The only seats available were at the bar — which is fine by me, I love sitting up at bars. However, we sat right in front of the doors, which meant that we were constantly being pelted by waves of cigarette smoke from the smokers standing as close as possible to the warmth of the bar without technically being inside.
We had cocktails on that first visit, and they were ok — perfectly nice cocktails, if somewhat limited in the range. We tried to chat to the bar staff, who admittedly were pretty busy, but they also weren’t really engaging and we didn’t feel compelled to stay past one drink. We put it down to it being a busy night and decided to come back to try it at a quieter time.
We came back last Wednesday evening, quite early and walked into an almost empty bar. The only people in were a woman behind the bar and a man sitting up at the bar (who, it out turned out, was also a member of staff). They stared at us as we walked in — making us feel like we had interrupted a private joke just before the punchline. It was a little like a wild west stand off, and I was the first to cave in and speak. Having established that yes, they were open and yes we could come in, we went and sat down. The two staff went back to flirting while we rustled around in the stack of menus on the bar to find a wine list. They immediately got a couple of stars for serving viognier by the glass. My favourite!
I went up to order, timing my interruption so as not to put too much of a dampener on Cupid’s arrow, and asked for a glass of Viognier and a Sol. We had a bit of a kerfuffle as the only viognier left was about a quarter of a glass at the bottom of a bottle at the back of the fridge. Mr Loverman went off to the back to see if there was another bottle while Miss Flirty rang up the bill and asked me to pay. I pointed out that since we didn’t know if there was another bottle, or if I was going to like it, perhaps we should wait before attacking my wallet? She then suggested I start a tab as that would be easier for her. No, I was pretty certain that we were only staying for one drink at this point, so we could wait thank you very much.
The viognier eventually appeared, but wasn’t very cold. The Sol on the other hand had been chilled to about two degrees above absolute zero and burnt the skin off my hand when I tried to pick it up. I also had to stop Miss In-​Love from pouring the dregs of the old dusty bottle into my glass.
Overall, it was the service that let this place down for me — we felt that we were an imposition, that we were interrupting a private conversation and that it was just a little bit of a hassle to serve us.

You’ll get better service here than in most restaurants.
I had several misconceptions of this place.
Despite the rave reviews, I was reluctant to visit the Sparrow Hawk. In the evenings, this place is reliably busy and bustling. To me it just seemed like a generic — try hard pub with mis-​matched furniture and bone china tea cups on the tables. The menu seemed a bit too much for pub grub and generally uninspiring.
However this charming venue has won me over. For me, it’s the simple things:
It’s clean.
It’s tidy
It’s not over-​bearing or garish.
It’s got a lot of different offers throughout the week such as BOGOF on Burgers Monday Evenings and 7 meals for £7 at lunch.
It’s got great service and a good selection behind the bar.
I would never really consider this a pub. We were greeted as soon as we came in as was asked if we were in for lunch. They took our drink orders. They were checking back to see if we were ok. This to me is a restaurant. A restaurant with a good bar.
I ordered the Fish Pie — which was really the only thing on the Menu I would have eaten. We were told it was small and came with nothing so we ordered a side of Cauliflour and Macaroni Cheese. I had my reservations that it would be a really expensive, naff pie and I’d be wanting a sandwich in half an hour.
I was wrong. Best Fish Pie I’ve ever had. So delicious, generous and homely. I’d go back just for the fish pie. The Mac and cheese was also great (but not as good as mine, but that’s just me being awesome at it)
Seriously can’t get over that Fish Pie.
I wouldn’t come back for a drink, but I would eat there again at lunch when it’s not rammed.

Based in the ‘trendy’ Crystal Palace triangle, a relatively new pub which has quickly become a popular place in the area.
Nice open pub space with plenty of seating area for both large parties and smaller intimate meetings. Along with the obligatory sofas for more casual conversations. They have a good range on their food menu which is a step up from the usual pub grub but all tasty non fussy food.
Because I had eaten already I opted for the asparagus which was nicely done. Not over cooked and soggy nor too raw. With pallet re awoken I then went for the sticky toffee pudding. This was nice, could have had a bit more ice cream but it hit the spot nicely.
Would definitely come here again either for a casual bite to eat or just for a drink. Staff were polite, friendly and cheery which always makes dining/​drinking out a nice experience.

Honestly, I would be hard pressed to find a local pub better than the Sparrowhawk. It’s already become my local because the food is amazing, the staff are so kind, I never have to wait for service or a table and if I do have to be patient for a moment, the owners often make it worth your while. The burger is TREMENDOUS, but I also love all the bar snacks and sometimes use a pint as an excuse just to get nibbles on the side. If you haven’t tried this fun place, it’s worth your time.

i had friends in town this weekend, and we wanted to stay local the first night they arrived, so we made a reservation for 7 of us to eat here.
the bar staff were so friendly and accommodating but totally unobtrusive. they gave the impression that no ask would be too big (even though we were not a fussy group, at all!), and provided us with some totally yum food and delightful drinks for a reasonable price.
i am «off red meat», which is probably the biggest lie of all time because i break my red meat ban whenever i fancy a burger (which lately seems to be about once a month, ha). i chose to have the house burger (medium) with blue cheese, and it was really delicious. i do have high standards when it comes to burgers, and this one made me regret breaking my ban not one iota — the sign of a good’un! the chips were also SO good. thick, crispy, skin on, yes!
i like how they rotate the menu and change it up frequently — very good for a local like me who will return often! i had enjoyed other places similiar to this in crystal palace, but have been let down by the service. the ambience, service, reliability of the sparrowhawk means i will be returning, and recommending.