The White Hart Tap, St Albans

Now perhaps it’s abuse of position to use this blog to slate a pub, but since it’s my blog I reckon I’m allowed.
We ventured up to St Albans to visit a couple of friends and their delightful two year old daughter.  They called the pub and advised at the time of booking that they were bringing a toddler.  All fine, say the pub.

So imagine the consternation on arrival that a) there are no high chairs (anyone who’s ever tried to eat a meal with a two year old will understand the key nature of such an item) and b) the pub’s staff seemed to be as far removed from ‘child-friendly’ as it’s possible to be.  Our party was eventually told that ‘we can’t have children running about’ and made to feel so unwelcome that we left 3/4 of the way through our meal.

Now it’s entirely up to the landlord whether they want to have children or not, but clearly if you’re not a child-friendly pub, it’s useful to make that clear to those who book and mention that they are bringing a child.  Add to that the extraordinarily rude manner in which all of this was handled and you have a pretty shoddy experience.  Oh, and the food was pretty mediocre, too.   0/10.  Don’t bother.

The Lord Palmerston, Lordship Lane, East Dulwich

We here at Roast Towers have long been aware of the distinct N1/N16 bias to our reviews.  This has mainly been down to a combination of laziness and the inescapable gravitational pull of Islington.  So we grabbed the chance to venture further afield last Sunday, visiting a couple of friends at a lovely pub south of the river (gasp) in East Dulwich.  The Lord Palmerston, to be precise.

The Eagle, City Road/Shepherdess Walk, N1 7LB

A total last-minute roast adventure, at the end of a long walk back from trying on wetsuits (not something I recommend if you want to look elegant) and driven by opportunism.  I’d wanted to visit the Eagle for a while – not least because it’s the one mentioned in the nursery rhyme ‘Pop Goes The Weasel’ (“Up and down the City Road, in and out The Eagle, that’s the way the money goes, Pop! goes the weasel”) but also because I’d heard good things about it.

On entering at around 4pm, we were greeted by a very charming barman who assured us that yes, they did roasts, no, we weren’t too late, and yes they had a table – all very pleasing.  Equipped with a pot each of pork scratchings and chili rice crackers, we awaited our comestibles.

The North Nineteen, Sussex Way, N19

Our pub of choice for the England-Ireland 6 Nations match, and one I’ve been meaning to get to for a while. The local for a few friends, and there’s been uniform agreement on the quality of the food and the friendliness of the staff.

They were right on both counts.  The roast we had today really hammered home the difference between a cook, getting roasts out in a perfunctory fashion, and a chef who actually gives a damn about the food they’re creating.

Re-visit; The Well, St John Street, EC1

Came back to The Well after visiting an exhibition at the Museum of London due to its proximity but mainly because neither of the two pubs we’d wanted to try (Jugged Hare, Old Red Cow) could provide our pet vegan with anything at all to eat.  A real shame, but there you go.

If anything, The Well has improved. Superbly friendly maitre d’ (is there a pub version of this role? Seems a bit OTT for anything other than fine dining) and splendid food and wine.  Shrimp and bacon croquettes were delicious, the beef was pink, succulent, plentiful and extremely tasty.  My rolled shoulder of pork was exactly how pork should be; juicy, sticky and rich with just enough fat to keep it moist and decadent.  Side order of cauliflower cheese is a nice touch, as is the extra gravy.

Our vegan had artichoke risotto which, whilst not the most exciting dish around, on learning he was cooking for the vegan, the chef made from scratch without butter or cream.  Very few pubs will go this extra mile on a Sunday.  I’m told it was highly delicious.

The puddings menu looked amazing but we were all far too corpulent by this point so we pushed off home.  Nice to know they’re still flying the flag for good, service-driven food.  The only slightly sour note is the price – £17 is steep even for London, so this drops their overall score  to 7.5/10

 

The Rosemary Branch, Shepperton Road, N1

It’s taken three years of living within a stone’s throw of this pub before we’ve got around to reviewing it, mainly because they don’t have a vegan-friendly veggie option.  We sought shelter here during a very snowy January Sunday, and the meat options looked too good to turn down, so our vegan had chips and said nothing.

Re-visit – The North Pole (formerly The North Star) New North Road, N1

We last visited here in June 2011 and it passed with flying colours, however things have changed.  Taken over towards the end of last year and (unnecessarily, IMO) re-named, the North Star is better internally now, with slightly more atmosphere.

The Dead Dolls Club, Dalston E8

First of our visits which was generated by a recommendation sent through the site – so thank you, whoever you were!

The Dead Dolls Club doesn’t sound promising initially as a roast venue, but despite being somewhat quirky, it acquits itself pretty well.

To our gentle readers…

Pub recommendations have been trickling through, which is marvellous.  A tiny request though – when making a recomendation for a pub with a reasonably ordinary name, please add the location/postal area.  Someone’s just recommended The Albion.  Off the top of my head I know 3 – in Islington, the City and Bethnal Green.  Please be specific. 

Oh, and if you meant the Islington one, we can’t visit because there’s no vegan-friendly food.

End message, many thanks.

 

The Well, St. John Street, Clerkenwell

An impromptu roast outing, this one, suggested by a friend late Saturday afternoon.  A quick call around found us a table for six at The Well, situated in that slightly odd, no-man’s-land of Clerkenwell. Lying between Islington and Barbican/The City, it was eerily quiet as we walked down from Angel, but there are some interesting buildings en route, including the ‘Finsbury Bank for Savings’ which is located on a wonderfully original Georgian street.

The Well feels more like a cafe with a bar than a typical pub, but had all the right trappings for a good Sunday roast – free papers, Bloody Mary mix on the bar, Scrabble.

Within minutes of our arrival, there was fresh, warm bread and olive oil/balsamic on the table – an excellent start.  When our remaining guests arrived, we turned our attention to the menu.  Roasts here aren’t the focus of the menu and as such are limited – Herefordshire beef or half a chicken.  There were a number of interesting-looking specials, including a confit shoulder of venison which I was hugely tempted by, but it wasn’t a roast and that’s what we’re about. (Totally going back to try it, though.)