First, what is a Jugged hare - In cooking, jugging is the process of stewing meat (usually whole animals, mainly game, or fish) for a long time in a tightly covered container, such as a casserole or an earthenware jug. Sometimes the cooking liquid includes some of the animal’s blood. A jugged hare is a hare cooked in this manner. One common traditional dish that involves jugging is Jugged Hare (known as civet de lièvre in France), which is a whole hare, cut into pieces, marinated and cooked with red wine and juniper berries in a tall jug that stands in a pan of water. It is traditionally served with the hare’s blood (or the blood is added right at the very end of the cooking process) and port wine. Given the restaurant/bar is named after the dish, we thought someone should have it.

The Jugged Hare

What others are saying

Disclaimer. The views hereafter are not representative of the Quest for a Sunday Roast or any member of the Quest team

From Zagat: ”Those busy bees behind The Gun, The Botanist et al. have revitalised an historic Barbican boozer into this newcomer named after an 18th-century dish that features on the earthy, midpriced British gastropub menu; striking taxidermy and brass add visual interest to the bar, whilst the ceramic-tiled, vaulted dining room below has handsome red leather booths and an open kitchen.”

“The Jugged Hare is a great higher-end gastro-pub near the Barbican Centre. Highly recommended for a quick pint or even better if you stay for dinner. The atmosphere definitely draws a wealthier well put together clientele, though the excessive taxidermy on display by the bar is rather bizarre. What’s the story behind the stuffed ferret?” www.yelp.co.uk

“If you head to the Jugged Hare, you have to order something off the rotisserie. My personal favourite is the 1/2 chicken. The chickens are cooked perfectly and remain juicy and flavourful. Make sure to order loads of sides too. The cauliflower mac and cheese, although not guilt-free, is delicious. And you can always balance it out with almond butter broccoli. The wine list boasts great bottles at reasonable prices. The atmosphere is similar to a brasserie – loud and bustling with a full view of the kitchen. The waiters are friendly, timely and well mannered.” www.yelp.co.uk

“A family sunday lunch in the Jugged Hare was fantastic treat. My wife had booked it and I wasnt sure what to expect. We had a great afternoon. The staff were lovely looking after both my wife and I and also entertaining the children. We opted for the roast leg of mutton with all the sunday garnishes, it was the best roast I think I have ever had at a restaurant. This was followed quickly by Sea-buckthorn junket, which didn’t dissapoint. We enjoyed a good couple of hours here, the children were welcomed, the food amazing and the service was outstanding.” www.timeout.com

“Great atmosphere, fun decor, friendly service. Bone marrow starter delicious and roast chicken from spit superbly moist.” www.timeout.com

“There’s a pleasant atmosphere in The Jugged Hare, if somewhat subdued, and the decor is the epitome of modern pub (although a bit predictable). It’s all clean simplicity with beautiful (no doubt reclaimed) wooden floors, a few stuffed game animals on the walls, New York-style single stools at the kitchen bar, red banquette seating for groups, and waiters in tweed. At just under £30 (light starter, main, one glass of red), it’s a recession friendly alternative to St John’s, with less intestine on the menu.” www.squaremeal.co.uk

“There’s a pleasant atmosphere in The Jugged Hare, if somewhat subdued, and the decor is the epitome of modern pub (although a bit predictable). It’s all clean simplicity with beautiful (no doubt reclaimed) wooden floors, a few stuffed game animals on the walls, New York-style single stools at the kitchen bar, red banquette seating for groups, and waiters in tweed. At just under £30 (light starter, main, one glass of red), it’s a recession friendly alternative to St John’s, with less intestine on the menu.” www.tripadvisor.co.uk

“The Jugged Hare is a very special pub and restaurant. The kitchen delivers seriously good hearty British food in a glamorous dining room which still manages to keep a traditional pub feel. Everyone loves it, Mum’s, bosses, brothers and girlfriends! It’s perfect for a lazy lunch or a couple of beers in the bar with some of their amazing bar snacks. It’s worth noting that the downstairs function room run events (winetastings etc) and it’s also available for private hire.” www.london-eating.co.uk

“Very enticing menu. The black pudding croquettes are heavenly. You godda have them. Pork crackling was light and crunchy – spot on. Bath chaps to start: this cut from the pigs face was to die for – essence of pig. Perfectly cooked. Main course of pigeon was the only disappointment – a bit overcooked and consequently a little dry and tough. A shame. Portions were on the generous side. A very nice cheese board to finish.” www.london-eating.co.uk

At a glance: bread and butter pudding · pub restaurant · roasted meat · rotisserie · sunday roast

The Jugged Hare is a modern British restaurant that serves a strictly seasonal British menu including a superb Sunday roast and offer a wide range of wines

Interesting selection of beers on tap, outside of the normal Heineken, Amstel, Guinness

Joining us on this foray north are Darren, Anya, Nate and baby Lev, Frank, Sebastian, Phil, Nick, Sue and Claire. A huge group. Hope its a good one.

www.theoxfordnw5.co.uk/

What others are saying

Disclaimer. The views hereafter are not representative of the Quest for a Sunday Roast or any member of the Quest team

“Cracking little boozer with charming well informed service. Lots of little quirks dotted around the place. This is no uniform pub. Management couple is really friendly & their passion emanates throughout the pub. I only wish they had a beer garden.” www.viewlondon.co.uk “Food excellent quality busy on Saturdays and perhaps a little too loud to dine when the dining area is full and the pub section is busy but earlier in the week its perfect. Nice decor nice atmos great grub easy transport links.” www.viewlondon.co.uk “The Oxford is quite cool downstairs and nice to sit outside at on a hot day. It has a big function room upstairs as well which is good for a party. More a pub for drinking with mates, not really for starting a big night out at.” www.viewlondon.co.uk “Fantastic food, meat dishes highly recommended. Camden Lager is a hit too, only available here and it’s brilliant.” www.urbanspoon.com “Looking at my notes from this meal, I’m struggling to find one positive word.  If I could make a wanky word cloud, things like ‘pretentious’ and ‘overpriced’ would dominate the space.” arielcking.blogspot.co.uk

Our Sister Site – Roasted Sundays said…

“In the end, we each agreed that it wasn’t that it was a particularly bad roast, it just wasn’t particularly outstanding one either. Worth going back for? If you’re nearby and don’t want to go far, then yes, most definitely. You could certainly do a lot worse on a Sunday.”

Initial Thoughts

Lovely cool old school pub with fans and a food challenge in case Adam Richman or Andy Cannon come a calling.

A Challenge

Nice separate dining area is nice, nice tables outside unfortunately on the very busy Kentish Town Road, a high street.

The Menu

The Food

Appetisers

(from left to right: heirloom tomato salad – Nate, fried halloumi – Darren, Frank, cured salmon salad – Anya, sardines – Seb)

and a Baby Lev Meal

Mains

(From left to right – fish and chips – Nate, sea bream in a puddle – Claire, roast beef – Anya, Phil, Nick, chicken – Sue, pigeon – Seb, monkfish cheeks – Darren, Frank)

Dessert

(from left to right: STP with Horlicks Ice cream – Darren, Frank, Nick, Sue, ice cream (Jack Daniels, lavender, sea salt caramel – Nate and Anya, Plum bakewell – Claire)

Thoughts and Observations (Collective and Individual)

• Second waiter (JLS) didn’t know who ordered what when it came to a second beer.
• Service at the start was good, maybe because it wasn’t busy – Sue
• Decor is good, attractive typical pub.  High ceilings, large space. Two halves, pub and dining area but can eat in both. Long bar and open kitchen so you can see the chefs at work which is nice – Sue
• Menu on large blackboard as well paper menus on the table.
• for 350 the salad is good. It has verious seeds and artichokes – Nate
• Seb – it was very enjoyable, the only thing it was missing was a wedge of lemon. It was very good otherwise. No bones.
• Anya – it was ok it was missing a little bit of zing, plain, but needed more sauce.
• Nate – it was kind of like room temperature fish.
• Claire’s fish in a puddle was “nicely dressed”
• It is very hot in here – all
• Potatoes way too peppery, calimari rings cold before even started -Darren – seems to be on a can of tomatoes.
• Sue – the hoof size Yorkshire does not yield – nil point.
• Claire – nice but strange combination , night light fish but wintry base (the puddle) would work better with fish as a wintry dish
• Some of the best fish and chips I have had in London – Nate – high marks on this.
• Your menu should have an equal quality level across it. If you can’t deliver it you shouldn’t offer it – Nate
• I really enjoyed it – Frank
•  My Yorkshire was burnt – Sue
• Yorkshire pudding was good, I like it when it’s burnt – Anya
• Food a solid 4 – Anya – I thought the roast was on the money I was disappointed with the ice cream flavours was not distinct and grainy.
• Card machine broken – numerous tries and timeouts
• Ladies toilets: 4/5 nice loos, clean.
• Gents: a little overzealous on their attempts to prevent chewing gum getting into the urinals, the contraption causes splash-back unless you’re very careful. – Seb
• The pigeon: enjoyable, but I was a little surprised to find that ‘game chips’ were in fact ‘plain crisps’, which was a little odd. There was nothing to soak up the gravy. – Seb
• Nick: went for low risk ‘well done’ beef and wasn’t disappointed . Great Yorkshire (size of a small dog). Veg and tats all great. High expectation for STP. p.s. bloody Mary rocked!
• Sue: roast chicken was good, fair size, chicken was perfect, gravy, veg and roast pots all good. There was a good range of veg. My huge Yorkshire let it down, it didn’t yield and was burnt. But Nate said he liked burnt Yorkshire so I guess it’s all matter of taste.
• Frank – Loved my fish cheeks, and halloumi was delicious
• Claire – Really like the place, chilled out, doesn’t feel like they are trying too hard. Food was tasty if a little weird on the combination of flavours though.
• After a very long wait…
• Claire – where’s my pudding!!
• Sue – this is, the time between main and dessert was too long.
• Peace is restored in our time – Francoise
• Claire- bake well pudding was nice but not enough almondy flavour, good pastry and tasty plums, more like a plum tart.
• Frank – Good STP, it was gingery and tasty. It takes the gold!
• Nate – wasn’t the best ice cream I’ve had
• Nick & sue shared STP – there wasn’t any left and it was quite yummy but couldn’t taste the horlicks flavour in the ice cream.

The Scores

Afterword

I think we were all happy with the venue, the Oxford is a lovely, well laid out pub with a good selection of beer and wine, a separate dining, drinking and outdoor space (though lacks a beer garden) and has a pretty good vibe. If this was any of our local pub we would be happy and said as much.

What let it down was the inattentive staff (mostly JLS) between courses, the lack of attention as to whether we had drinks or not, the broken card reader and mostly, and sadly, the inconsistency of the menu. Whilst the fish and chips and roast beef were very good according to the Questors who ate them, the weird sea bream in a  puddle did not work (the puddle was a winter puddle and a meat puddle, not a light fish puddle), the concoction I had was just wrong – cold calamari rings, really peppery potatoes and spiced monkfish cheeks all on what seemed to be no more than a can of crushed tomatoes. The ice cream choices were weird too – Jack Daniels, Horlicks?

It seemed like the chef had seen too many episodes of MasterChef, puddings were overly complex and the flavours he tried with the mains just didn’t work. As for the starters, all said the starters were missing zest, even to a point Seb said his sardines just needed a lemon wedge.

So, all in all, 9 thumbs up for the Oxford. It would be great if it was around the corner from our homes, but we would be careful of what we ordered and who our waiter was.

History Lesson

Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell (16 June 1873 – 21 April 1938) was an English aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers such as Aldous Huxley, Siegfried Sassoon, T. S. Eliot and D. H. Lawrence, and artists such as Mark Gertler, Dora Carrington and Gilbert Spencer.

The Pub

http://www.theladyottoline.com/

The Lady Ottoline boasts an extensive choice of drinks including four ales and two lagers on tap and more that 100 world wines. The food menu at The Lady Ottoline offers dishes made using fresh and locally sourced produce.

Lady Ottoline

Sunday Menu can be seen here http://www.theladyottoline.com/?page_id=145 and I am really liking the idea of the chicken liver parfait, the mixed roast (nomnom pork, beef, lamb and chicken) , and then it is a toss up with crème brulee and the STP.

What others are saying

Disclaimer. The views hereafter are not representative of the Quest for a Sunday Roast or any member of the Quest team

“Went here for a friend’s birthday and it was great. Had a large table in the pub for Sunday lunch and we were looked after so well. The roast I had was fantastic and the service was friendly and attentive. Can totally recommend.” www.timeout.com “Went here last Sunday, great service and the food was amazing. We will be back.” www.timeout.com “I liked everything about this restaurant (I got a table in the pub area). The food was excellent and the staff was so warm and helpful. They especially were great to let me try several different wines (and ultimately suggesting a moderately priced Nero d’avola) that complemented my meal perfectly. Great experience and even though I am in London for work for only one more week I am definitely going back before I head home to the states.” www.timeout.com “Beautifully and stylishly reburbished, it creates a cosy but relaxed and sophisticated setting. The food is high-quality gastropub food, and not too expensive. There’s a much greater range of bottled beer than draught, and a good wine list with good quality lower-priced options. The staff are super-friendly. It’s the perfect place when you’re just a bit too tired to go home and cook for yourself.” www.squaremeal.com“I had a blinding Sunday lunch here yesterday, as recomended by a friend who works in the area, I had the mixed roast the beef was buttery pork melt in your mouth and the chicken was nice and tender, best roast i’ve had for a long time, the only down side was the red cabbage although beautifully spiced not appropriate for the start of April Gastro pubs should know better.” www.viewlondon.co.uk “In less than a month, this place has already achieved it’s aim of being the best pub in the local area. Indeed, the definition of ‘local area’ needs to be expanded as this is a gastropub worth crossing town for. An enticing menu which exceeded any prior expectations upon delivery of each course, very friendly and attentive service, and a tastefully refurbished venue will make this THE hot new place to check out.”www.viewlondon.co.uk

So all well and good there then. Almost all the reviews are positive and, going into the pub, so are we.

Need to Know

So waking up on the Sunday morning I checked the email confirmation to find out that:

1. There are no children permitted in the dining room. I am thinking this is the first floor dining room. We had Bethany with us.
2. The dining room is on the first floor and we had Alice joining us. Alice currently walks with sticks as she goes through physiotherapy. I didn’t specify eating in the bar when I put in the registration.
3. Anyone booking table after 8 only gets a 2 hour sitting max.

Initial Thoughts

The Lady Ottoline

Lovely breezy space, two floors, clean, jazz, welcoming polite staff and newspapers (shame Sue isn’t here as she would love it)

Happy, family venue, downstairs anyway unless your kids are all grown up. Music is cute, akin to Amelie soundtrack and not at an offensive volume. I am liking this place and the food going by looked amazing.

Tom Sturridge and Sienna Miller on the next table which is kinda cool.

The Food

Appetisers

(From left to right – Asparagus Benedict – Alice, Scotch Egg – Roland and Vera, Soup of the Day – Francoise and Matt, Venison tartar – Darren)

Mains

(From left to right – Mixed roast (Beef, pork and chicken) – Darren, Vera, Roland, Matt, beef – Francoise and Alice)

And a new photo selection – the Bethany kids menu – On this occasion roast chicken

Dessert

(From left to right – Burnt lemon tart – Alice, Roland and Vera, Eton Mess – Francoise, STP with caramel sauce – Darren)

Observations and Comments (Collective and Individual)

• The toilet it is downstairs which is glorious. There are little hooks by the basins which are for handbags which is cool, even if you don’t have one – Francoise
• Nice hand soap and cream although the gents stank of mildew – Darren
• Francoise – mmmmm when tasting Darren’s tartar
• That’s good – Alice when tasting darren’s tarter
• How is it? – Darren
• It’s delicious – Francoise on her soup
• It’s good – Alice, the Hollandaise is very good, the asparagus is only peeled at the bottom which is perfect the egg is deep fried, it’s the scotch egg with the sausage
• Darren – great venison tartar
• Scotch egg was quite nice – Roland
• It’s really nice – Vera It’s really good. Outside is really crunchy and the sausage has been marinated in something – Vera
• This was nice but a bit to salty – Matt
• The food here is already better than the other place – meaning the Electricity Showroom – Matt
• Yeah, but it cost 4 times as much – Alice
• Sunday roast is not a summer meal – Francoise
• This is undoubtedly my favourite roast of 2012 – Darren
• Long gap between starter and main – matt echoing alice, although I was happy to have a gap – Darren
• Apple sauce, horse radish and mint sauce – really nice touch – Darren
• Mixed roast – beef, really tender, a lovely piece of meat. Pork was great, crunchy skin, perfect. Chicken, on the bone, which is a no no for me normally – Darren
• I think the potatoes are really good – Alice
• I think this is a really good one – Roland
• Chicken with skin, even on children’s menu. – Darren don’t really like that. Saying that, arguably the best chicken I have eaten
• I like that there are a lot of green veg – Francoise
• Broad beans have had the sacks removed which is a labour intensive bean dish – which is good – Alice
• Potatoes are awesome, beef is a little done for my taste, happy with my food – Alice
• This is really nice – Matt
• Thumbs up from Vera – this fulfills the humans desire for a Sunday roast
• I did quite like the roast – I have no particular comments but they did it very well 4 for food 4 for atmosphere as it wasn’t expensive – Roland
• Heavily pregnant Vera had a baby mummy moment with Sienna Miller – both rubbing bellies
• Oh my goodness – Vera on my stp
• That is amazing – Alice on my stp
• Yup, everyone loves my dessert – Darren
• Roland – I thought the dessert was nice but it wouldn’t change my score
• Mine was not life changing – Francoise
• Service was slow – Alice
• I tend not to notice if service is slow because Bethany demands our service – Roland
• Vera – Bathroom is really clean, no baby changing room but it was really clean
• Franc score – It was nice but had no character. It was new, too perfect. Your character cannot come from pictures on the wall.

Scores

Afterword

Okay, I really liked this place. It is leaps and bounds ahead of the places we have eaten at this year and it is justifiably in the lead for the much coveted Quest For A Sunday Roast certificate (currently held by The Red Lion and Sun, The Gun and The Well). Francoise thought the place lacked character but I think she may be thinking of dirt, as this place was impeccably clean. I did like it, and I think with the three courses, really nice staff, celebrity sighting, loos etc that we may have even scored it a little low. Still, I have to ask the questions – would I go back? Absolutely! Would I recommend the Lady Ottoline? Definitely, and I will as soon as I can hit the Twitter button.

All in, a lovely pub, with great food, ambiance and…. well, you get the picture. How would Bethany, our own little monster score it?

http://www.rivingtonshoreditch.co.uk/

Now people have been here before, Matthieu once went for dinner with a group of friends, four of which labelled their food as “inedible.” That is a good start.

Here is the sample menu. On a Sunday they offer a set menu, which I am a fan of, although their menu is for three courses. I prefer the option of choosing 2 courses for £x and 3 for £y. I do not want to have to choose both a starter and a dessert. Minus a quarter point for that.

http://www.rivingtonshoreditch.co.uk/set-menus-and-special-offers/sunday-set-lunch/

And here is the actual menu for the day, which, on the face of it, doesn’t look too bad.

What others are saying

Disclaimer. The views hereafter are not representative of the Quest for a Sunday Roast or any member of the Quest team

Tripadvisor Stats

68% Recommend

Excellent 12/32

Very Good 10/32

Average 3/32

Poor 3/32

Terrible 4/32

“We loved this place, really busy, great buzz, staff were great fun, so good at what they do, the buliding itself is beautiful. I couldnt recommend this place high enough.” www.tripadvisor.com “When we walked in there was no atmosphere which is how it was through most of the evening.The service was very slow and the staff wasn’t very attentive.There was about a 30 min wait between the 2 courses with no staff interaction during the interim. With the number of establishments, they need to try harder I’m afraid. Food was just ok. Spend your money somewhere else!” www.tripadvisor.com“Rivington Grill Shoreditch is well worth a visit. The theme is old fashioned British food and traditional ingredients, but well presented and in stylish but relaxed surroundings just off Shoreditch High Street. On my second visit I started with a rabbit, black pudding and egg salad which was very tasty, and followed that with a barnsley chop and bubble & squeak. There is a good wine list, with some wines available by the glass allowing a minor indulgence at lunchtime but still able to go back to work!”www.tripadvisor.com “Well prepared, quality, straightforward food. Busy evenings even the bar. Probably best full English breakfast and burgers in London. Let downs? Sometimes difficult to choose a dish as occasionally nothing stands out on the menu and service is frequently poor.” www.qype.co.uk “One of the best gastropubs in London. Good quality food, prepared simply. Nice staff, and good prices.”www.qype.co.uk “We really like this unpretentious bohemian style restaurant and have been eating here once a year on holiday trips last four years. Sadly it didnt deliver on our latest visit. The staff, though friendly and informal seems a bit whimsical in approach. Two ginmartinis ordered, two mojitos delivered – is just an example. Oysters were excellent, cornish crab average, but the strongly recommended steaks were a true and utter disaster: extremely tough and obviously wrongly butchered. The attempt they did to make it right produced two lumps of steak marginally more tender but covered in foul tasting oil as though they were deep fried (old trick?). No good tastes there at all. We were really surprised….Two stars for staff who seemed sincerely sorry for this. Shape up!” www.timeout.com

Hm. So essentially, much like a lot of London gastropubs it looks like the staff are pretty vacant and the food is hit and miss. We shall see.

Initial Thoughts

I do not know there they get the idea that this is a “bar” and grill. The bar is nothing to speak of, with one beer on tap, a separate port menu they have to find from somewhere when asked, and the most vacant staff I have ever dealt with outside of the all-time worst Quest venue – the Sun in Splendor in Notting Hill.

Still it is pretty clean, white table cloths, nice lighting, overly oppressive music, bad art, weird lighting fixtures and a couple literally making out in the corner over their eggs benedict.

The Food

Appetisers

(From Left to Right, Whitebait – Darren, salt beef with green beans and samphire – Alice and Sebastian)

Mains

(From Left to Right – roast beef – Darren, king scallops – Francoise, fish and chips – Claire, sole – Alice, and Sebastian)

Desserts

(from Left to Right – Ice Cream – Alice, Cheese – Francoise, apple crumble and custard – Sebastian, Claire, Rhubarb and Custard Jelly – Darren)

Thoughts and Observations (Collective and Individual)

• Fixed menu is relatively limited – better to go a la carte
• Dead
• Brunch looked good
• Not a bar it should be called the Rivington Grill – Darren
• The ladies toilet is kind of an obstacle course – but the hand soap is awesome – Francoise
• Disinterested staff
• Too loud music
• Just bitburger on tap
• Terrible art
• Waiter did not take menus away – had to question if we were left with them as mats
• Whitebait are whole fish and full and plump not the dry version I had in Venice – Darren
• Claire, to Seb, how are the starters?
• Seb – good
• Claire – good? Good
• I thought that was reasonable but not great – Alice
• I would have preferred a carpaccio rather than salt beef – Seb
• Bread is good
• Chips are not double cooked, they are just overdone – claire
• Really delicate beef – not asked how I wanted it done – but good – Darren
• Yorkshire does not yield to the fork. – Darren
• Oily, could do with a bit more zest – Seb
• But it’s nice – Alice
• I have to say I am disappointed – Claire
• Mine is oily – franc
• Fish is nice, peas are nice, batter is really oily – Claire
• Chips were not good – Alice
• Beef and roasts combo was good – Darren
• Sole needed to be deboned
• Franc – on Alice’s samphire and fish – really good
• Claire left her chips.
• If I was scoring it would be 1 and a Half out of 5 – Seb
• If it were cheaper then I would tolerate it – Alice
• It is truly hit or miss – the beef and roast were good. The chips were terrible. Everything was greasy. Awful Yorkshire.
• Service sucks
• Claire -I need more wine to get through this experience!
• Worst service – but then saw our waiter left.
• Brunch looks good. Lunch sucked.
• Coffee comes with hot steam milk – thumbs up – Seb
• Too sweet. Bad choice – rhubarb and custard jelly – Darren
• Apple crumble and custard – Claire and Seb
• Cheese plate – franc
• Chocolate mint choc chip ice cream – Alice
• It’s nothing special – Claire
• Blah b-l-a-h Claire
• I have forgotten about it already – Seb
• My main was greasy – Alice
• Shoreditch – too cool for school – but no substance – Claire
• I would not come back here – Seb seconded by Claire, and Darren
• Expectation up here, actuals down here – Claire
• We were never told about the specials
• £200!! Bill
• £4!! For each bottle of water!! Is this a bad restaurant not a fucking hotel!
• We couldn’t even bring ourselves to pay the discretionary 12.5% gratuity as the service was shocking. We lost the waiter midway and he just went home, and was replaced by a girl who recognised the fact service there sucked balls.

Scores

Afterword

I think the sum of all the parts adds up to the fact that the service really is bad, the food is average, and each dish had something wrong with it (the chips were bad, the Yorkshire would have been sent back at the worst pub in London, the fish was just bones, the Rhubarb this was awful), the selection was terrible and this “bar and grill” was neither. The grill options were limited, and the bar was non-existent.

Would any of us go back? Never! Would any of us recommend this venue to others? Never! We are only posting this to warn people off thinking the Rivington Bar and Grill. It is not trendy and hip Shoreditch. It is not fun. It is expensive!

Very unlikely…

The venue for the Scottish part of the quest was a little place in Edinburgh called ‘A Room in Leith’, it’s the sister restaurant to ‘A Room in the Town’ and ‘A Room in the West End’ in the city centre. It’s at the back of a small pub called ‘Teuchters Landing’ at the end of a traditional cobbled street in the shore area of town (which is basically just Leith to us Edinburgers).

Interesting fact #1: the pub is so named as its built on the site where the Edinburgh to Aberdeen ferry departed from and came into (Aberdonians are affectinately termed ‘Teuchters’ ) 

Scottish questors : CJ, Claire, Deano (technically English but living in Edinburgh), Gareth, Fiona, Rob, Steve, Jacqui, Carrie and Scott.

What others are saying

Disclaimer. The views hereafter are not representative of the Quest for a Sunday Roast or any member of the Quest team

THE ELECTRICITY SHOWROOM

“Thumbs up – The Superman style revolving door. The Bugsy Malone style bar stools. The Chicago style dressing room lamps. Thumbs down – The bar smells a bit like a university student union. The staff look like they are still students. The frying oily smell get into everything. However £5.50 will buy you a rather tasty large glass of house red or white, so I had two reds. Which as you would imagine, I rather liked.” http://www.yelp.co.uk “Went just for a Sunday afternoon drink and you can’t beat a revolving door to the entrance! Nice old-man pub meets hipster feel with green walls and movie start lights. Staff are really friendly and the people watching from the seats by the window is great.” http://www.yelp.co.uk “Went just for a Sunday afternoon drink and you can’t beat a revolving door to the entrance! Nice old-man pub meets hipster feel with green walls and movie start lights. Staff are really friendly and the people watching from the seats by the window is great.” http://www.qype.co.uk “I was used to go to this place for drinks but never had food there. Decided to go for a sunday lunch and give it a go. The sunday roast my partner had was amazing! We couldn’t believe the size of the plate when it arrived. He managed to finish it all. It was full of veggies, gravy, massive yorkshire pudding and the beef was apparently really nice. I myself had a veggie main, butternut squash/spinash dish with cheesy sauce which was also delicious. At first it didn’t look like there was much on the plate but it was actually plenty!! Not too pricey either, £12 for the roast and £9 for mine. I’ll definitely go back.” http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk “Worst Sunday dinner ever! Terrible food, and I mean really really terrible.The food was eclipsed only by the service which was unbelievably awful and terrible. The staff are gormless hipsters who have no concept of customer service or even basic communication skills. The first time I went there is was pretty poor but out of fairness I tried the place again. Sadly it was 100% worse.” http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk

A ROOM IN LEITH

“I went to Teuchters Landing yesterday for lunch and had the most lovely lunch. In typical Sunday hangover style we were looking for some comforting pub grub to hit the spot and stumbled across this place. Their mug menu is absolutly brilliant! We both went for the Isle of Mull Mac’n'Cheese which came in lovely mugs and were great! Our eyes were slightly bigger than our tummys though and probably should have gone for the smaller mugs, especially as we shared a mug of chips as well. It is the perfect place to go if you have been for a nice walk and looking for somewhere to warm up – the comfy sofas are perfect so spend the rest of the day reading the papers!” http://www.edinburghmenus.co.uk “Good food but far too noisy for a Sunday afternoon meal.Their was a large party which should have had the restaurant to themselves other diners couldn’t here themselves think very disappointing management should review when to let other diners share with large parties. Food was good but enjoyment was nil.” http://www.5pm.co.uk “Iv’e just had another fantastic meal in a room in leith. second perfect meal in two weeks here. starter of crayfish unfussy but so tasty. catch of the day tonight was plaice on rissoto. WOW. ate the lot. sancerre tasted like sancerre. worth every penny. staff worth every penny. can not recomend this place enough.” http://www.urbanspoon.com

INITIAL THOUGHTS

THE ELECTRICITY SHOWROOMS

Nice and quiet old London bar, with very eclectic decor. Garish pink ceiling. Green walls. Classic paintings and photographs in great frames turned steam punk and occult with additions.

Interesting Fact #2: The Electricity Showrooms were actually that, the showrooms where Londoners could come at the beginning of the 20th century to see the new elastric trickery in action, and hopefully convince the candle burning Luddites to embrace the light bulb.

There are remnants of its previous incarnation around too, including great stained glass of light bulbs on the way downstairs to the adequately clean toilets.

Beer was okay too. Staples such as Kronie, Fosters and the like are joined by Darren’s favourite Brooklyn lager, Erdinger, Paulaner, and Camden Ink, so dark it absorbs light.

A concern from the off was that the menu was very, very limited menu. Only 1 dessert, no appetisers. This is clearly the menu of a pub that has added food as an after thought, and Alice was worried that this was a proper pub not a gastro pub. She needn’t have worried. This was a nice space, relaxed staff, not overly oppressive music.

We also made use of our Taste of London cards, giving the table 50% off the food bill. No matter how good or bad it was £6.25 for a roast beef Sunday lunch cannot be argued with. We highly recommend getting one. In the city that costs, it will save you a fortune when eating out.

A ROOM IN LEITH

It was a lovely sunny day in Leith which always helps, and you walk into the bar area which feels warm and very welcoming if a little compact. There is a huge chalkboard with wines and another equally large one with all their whisky’s . They serve brew dog IPA on tap and the bar staff are very friendly (remembering a couple of our party from the night before) the guys felt the need to pre-sample the bar on Saturday night!

Toilets were a bit of a trek to get to for the ladies through to the restaurant, past the kitchen and up the stairs, but they were clean had nice hand wash and hand cream and whilst there was no airblade, we had the next best thing, an excelerator, which does the same job but looks like a traditional hand dryer. In the gents there was wallpaper with things you could read, just in case they got bored!

to get to the restaurant area you walk through a really small middle area packed with people (there were lots of “sorrys” requred as we bashed our way through the packed tables) and a proper log burning stove keeping everyone toasty, through to the back of the building where a bright conservatory has been built. The atmosphere was great with a birthday group having lots of fun! It was very warm though, a couple of the guys were melting in their seats! We asked for windows to be opened, which they were but it still felt like we were being roasted. The menu was pretty good and prices equally good (set menu 2courses for £13.95) although you could pick from the other items too. We had a variety of people having starters and mains, and mains and desserts and everyone was happy with the choices available.

THE MENUS

http://www.electricityshowrooms.com/assets/ElectricityShowroomsMenu.pdf

http://www.aroomin.co.uk/a-room-in-leith-lunch-menu/

THE FOOD

Appetisers

(From left to right)

A ROOM IN LEITH – Venison Salad – Gareth, Carrie, Rob, grilled sea bass – Scott, Oysters – Deano

Mains

ELECTRICITY SHOWROOMS

Fish and chips – Vera, Roast Beef – everyone else

A ROOM IN LEITH

Fish and chips – Claire, Fiona, Deano, Blade of beef – CJ, Steve, Gareth, Carrie, Scott, salmon – Rob, Chicken Supreme – Jacqui

Dessert

(From left to right)

A ROOM IN LEITH

Banoffee pie – Steve, Fiona, rhubarb and custard crumble – Jacqui, CJ, Cheese board – Carrie, Scott

Thoughts and Observations (Collective and Individual)

ELECTRICITY SHOWROOMS

• I always like this place but it’s always cold. – Matthieu. Apparently sitting on the bench seating at the window is the best thing to do in the Winter as the radiators are underneath. In a chilly May, though, they are also not on.
• Only two came rare when four were ordered.
• Not enough cutlery.
• Not enough gravy.
• No service after delivery of food.
• Cabbage very salty. – Darren
• Weird yorkshire – mine was undercooked, Alice and Francoise were burned. – Darren
• Mines fine – I am upset that not everyone that ordered rare got rare. I am glad I won the lottery and got what I ordered. – Alice
• It’s considering it cost £6 – it is amazing. If it was £12 I would be worrying where all the veg was. – Franc
• Clean and well maintained loos. – Darren
• Potatoes were ok. I don’t know if they were under done, over done. But that would have been ok of there was more veg. -Franc
• Ladies bathroom grossly lacking I toilet paper – Franc
• A few positives – it is definitely trendy – Matthieu
• I like the environment but I am not too fond of the food. – Roland, rocking a Cock Grease hair gel t-shirt that raised a chuckle.
• The meat tasted like it could have been cooked days ago. – Roland
• You don’t come here for the food, you come here for the atmosphere – Matthieu. Although the food is the reason we were there.
• Sunday lunch is a family thing, this place is ideal, they happily let Bethany run around without complaining at all. – Franc
• Service was fine but it was there was no table service. – Franc
• Fish was surprisingly good but mostly bones – Vera. Portion was big though.
• Asked for dessert – after a delay. We were told they would not do any as it was frozen!!! WTF?
• The conclusion – this is a cool bar to hang out in and not eat in.
• They only serve food to support your drinking. – Franc
• Very much like my local, The Slaughtered Lamb. I love to drink there but would never eat there. – Darren

• The birthday group donated some cake to our table as we had sung happy birthday to them, it was delicious when the mains came out there was a respectful silence as it al looked so good.

Free cake!

• Steve – Mash potatoes are awesome!
• Carrie – I didn’t see any endve in that salad, just that frizzy stuff that gets stuck in your teeth
• Claire – it is GOOD fish n chips here
• Rob -those peas have been microwaved, not the best

Bad Peas!

• Carrie- not enough gravy
• Fiona -grumpy waitress was not happy that I wasn’t ready to order my dessert.
• CJ – nomnomnom that dessert looks bloody awesome.
• Steve – banoffee pie is tasty but it’s just a halfed banana they could have chopped it a bit, it keeps trying to escape!
• Carrie – not enough cheese on this board
• Jacqui – crumble is a bit sloppy for my liking
• Claire – got a right look from the waitress there for just trying to get her attention!

SCORES

THE ELECTRICITY SHOWROOMS

A ROOM IN LEITH

AFTERWORD

ELECTRICITY SHOWROOMS

When I decided to write the summary, Matthieu asked me not to be too harsh on the pub, after all, it is one of his locals, and to be honest I am not going to be. The problem with the Electricity Showrooms is simple – they just shouldn’t do food. It is a great space, nice polite bar staff, music at an unoffensive volume, but the food was just terrible. What there was of it was bone filled (fish), or salty (cabbage), or tough (beef), or non-existent (horseradish, peas), or inadequate (gravy). This is a bar to hang out and drink, or read, with the light streaming in from the large windows. It is a bar to drink in, that sells food to perpetuate the drinking. When you offer a dessert but they are frozen, that underlines the fact you shouldn’t be serving food at all. I would give it a solid thumbs down on the food, but a solid thumbs up for the rest (excluding lack of toilet paper in the ladies, which is just unacceptable – I know all the staff on were guys, but Jesus!).

A ROOM IN LEITH

Generally, everyone had a great meal and enjoyed being there, with lots of people saying that they would def go back. the service was pretty good (despite the couple of comments above) and we all came away feeling stuffed and happy. Afterward a few of us headed to a local bar where we watched a great band (the Jammy Devils) and partied the night away, a great Edinburgh Quest experience!

This weeks quest sees us return to Ealing, the old stomping ground of BestSundayRoast blogger John and, given this was the third weekend in a row Andy and Asami had been there, possibly their new home. Acton’s loss is Ealing’s gain and all that. And joining us on this quest are Andy and Asami, Nate and Anya and baby Lev, and Darren.

Pretty

The Haven Arms, according to their website is ”a wonderful local Ealing pub steeped in history.  First built in 1861, The Haven Arms suffered a great fire and had to be rebuilt again around 1873.  The pub has been used for many important community gatherings including inquests and trials; a mural of a famous local inquest still adorns the wall and is over 100 years old.  We took the reins of The Haven Arms on the 12th May 2008 and have gradually updated it without losing any of its charm, seeing as that is what brought us here in the first place.  The Haven Arms offers great food which is locally sourced, prepared and cooked fresh for you by professional chefs on the premises.  We are now renowned for our Sunday lunch with favourites, roast medium rare sirloin and half a corn fed chicken with all the trimmings taking centre stage.  Dining can be enjoyed in the restaurant, the pub or alfresco in our hidden courtyard.”

Pretty tranquil

This does seem awesome and we were very excited until we continued reading and, for the bum’s rush:

“We show every major sporting event with three large screens…”

Pretty crammed

Ah well, you can’t have everything.

The Menu

So to the menu. Well, there isn’t one. The website is pretty basic and doesn’t tell anyone what they really want to know. We can’t play the game, there are hardly any pictures, but the roast is referenced thusly – “Sunday - The Best Sunday Lunch with wonderful starters, mains and homely puddings. Favourites include rare roast sirloin, slow roast belly of pork or half roast stuffed chicken with all the trimmings. all cooked from scratch by our professional chefs.” Sounds good, no?

Well they have a facebook page, according to the site and I went there looking for pictures of the food but alas, it was full of snaps of drunkard crowds, mostly watching football.

What our brother and sister sites said

Visited by John at BestSundayRoast (include link) September 4, 2011
The potatoes were a bit dry and veg selection seemed inconsistent, but as a whole meal it was good as demonstrated by my near empty plate. I loved the quality and cut of my meat, and the flavour was the tastiest I’ve had in a while. After tasting the chicken I was glad the pork had run out! We found the long wait tiresome, and while we take busy times into consideration we noticed that the chalkboard recommended to book tables at weekends as they get busy, so they do expect it and so could be better prepared. It would be interesting to visit again to see if the service is usually a bit slow or if there was a reason for it, but I would definitely recommend the chicken if you’re ever visiting. And if you have room try the cheese board for me, I was tempted but didn’t have space!

So in a nutshell: bad service but good food when it finally arrives.

What others are saying

Disclaimer. The views hereafter are not representative of the Quest for a Sunday Roast or any member of the Quest team

“A real find. An unpretentious pub with pool table & sport on TV, but also with an excellent restaurant. Sundy roast is particularly good. The staff are very welcoming, and it seems genuine.” http://www.qype.co.uk “Nice pub. It’s got a good location down a lane off the corner of Haven Green. Still quite authentic inside, with lots of etched glass, mirrors, and knick-knacks on the walls. Fullers pub, as most are around Ealing. Very neighbourhood-y.” http://www.qype.co.uk “Great local pub with probably the best honest food. Real fire, pub Dalmatian running around. Well worth a visit.” http://www.allinlondon.co.uk “Very cosy and quiet (lunch time)I ordered fish and chips, no fish.My husband ordered sausages and mash, no mash.Ok we are very adaptable.They want to give the impression that food is home made but as soon as you taste it you realise it’s sub-standard and microwaved.finally,both our coffees were cold and my cake was dried up and the cream inside was rancid I had to spit it out!All of which was served by a waitress with little or no training in food and beverage.Maybe OK for a drink, but if you get hungry whilst there get a bag of crisps.” http://www.allinlondon.co.uk

Again – bad service, and okay food when it arrives.

Initial Thoughts

Okay, so I arrived at noon and was the only person there. Still, the TV was on mute, the staff were very friendly and all seemed to be good. The bar is a little grotty looking, other than the newly painted and clean toilets, and it does not stand up to the Duck Egg blue gastro efforts of SW London.

Had a pint of Lightfoot, which was nice, and took a table outside in the sun. And this highlighted the versatility of the place to me, there is a dingy corner for the football fans to watch the game, there is a pool table, there is a dining area, and then the outdoor space, and to be honest, none of those areas need to really impinge on the enjoyment of the others.

The Food

Appetisers

(From left to right – Parfait – all)

Mains

(From left to right – Roast beef – Anya and Asami, Roast lamb rump – Nate and Andy, roast chicken Darren)

Desserts

(From left to right – STP Nate, Anya and Andy – Cheese plate – Darren and Asami)

Observations (Collective and Individual)

• Polite staff greeted me. TV was on but silent. Space outside to enjoy the sun. Food smelled good. £3.40. Pint of lightfoot. All good so far.
• Child’s roast beef on menu. Which is good.
• So far this is my favorite pub experience for a Sunday roast, Nate, I asked the guy for his opinion and he went on about all the things he liked on the menu up to the point he made himself hungry
• Really tasty parfait but nowhere near enough bread. Was very nice. – Darren
• Vegetables nicely done – Nate
• Nate asked if they knew we were blogging as the service was so good
• Lamb was spot on – Andy
• Doneness is spot on – Nate. Not sure is doneness is a word, if it is not then is should be.
• Perfect roasts – Darren
• Yorkshire does yield to the fork – Darren
• I hate meat on the bone but the chicken is awesome – Darren
• Ate so much so quickly I have indigestion already – Darren but I want dessert
• Roast potato’s were perfect – Andy
• Veggies were really nice – Asami
• Carrots tasted good – Asami
• Yorkshire pudding yielded to the fork – magic stuff !! – Andy
• Chicken parfait was really nice !!- Andy
• I’m happy – Andy
• Very relaxed Sunday lunch – great food, great staff, enthusiastic and attentive – Darren
• Great relaxing atmosphere. Very attentive service. – Anya
• Traditional menu, but everything was perfectly cooked. My roast beef was succulent and delicious. Just the right crispiness on the potatoes, crunchy vegetables. – Anya
• £23 a head. Really cheap for 3 courses and two rounds of drink – Darren

Scores

Afterword

I don’t know, maybe I went to a different Haven Arms in Ealing to some of the other reviewers because I thought the staff were exemplary. The food was wonderful and exceedingly affordable to boot. There were TVs around but they were not on, despite the Liverpool Newcastle game being on. There was a bunch of lads playing pool, but unless you went through the pool table area to the loos you wouldn’t have noticed they were there.

I did want to score a little lower than normal, mainly because the others were scoring so high. Everyone loved their food, everyone loved the table, the sun, the service. So why not, eh? I didn’t go crazy loco on the ambiance score because the interior of the pub is pretty grotty. The outdoor space isn’t the cleanest either. The toilets had clearly been redone recently, and the service and relaxed atmosphere on a leisurely Sunday was ideal. 10 thumbs up from all involved.

Would we do back? Abso-fricking-lutely! This was a very, very good quest. Well done to all at the Haven Arms, Ealing.

Interior of the Sands End

The menu looks amazing. And if I was playing the game right now I would probably go for the smoked eel on toast, deer hot pot, and apple crumble.

The menu is here.

What Others Are Saying

Disclaimer. The views hereafter are not representative of the Quest for a Sunday Roast or any member of the Quest team

“Lovely food, friendly service & good price. We had dinner here on a quiet Monday night and enjoyed excellent fish & veggie dishes, appropriately priced. The staff was attentive without being in your face and theatmosphere at the bar was lovely, seemed to be mainly locals who knew each other & the staff. We’ll definitely go back again.” http://www.google.com “Lovely food, friendly service & good price. We had dinner here on a quiet Monday night and enjoyed excellent fish & veggie dishes, appropriately priced. The staff was attentive without being in your face and theatmosphere at the bar was lovely, seemed to be mainly locals who knew each other & the staff. We’ll definitely go back again.” http://www.google.com “This corner pub was given a facelift by the new owners at the end of 2007. It’s now light-filled, with cream-coloured walls, old oak floorboards, candles on the tables and blackboard menus. The staff are enthusiastic and clearly committed to the place, whether they’re pouring you a pint of real ale (from the Hook Norton brewery perhaps) or dishing up the British Isles menu, which has a recognisably Irish accent. The bread is good, baked daily on the premises. Scallops were served with discs of black pudding, a pleasing combination and done well. But corned beef and carrot pie disappointed: the hot-water crust was served slightly burnt, yet the filling was lukewarm. Summer pudding was the best dessert, sharp and running with dark juices. There are two wine lists: the regular one, and a version for the kind of people who think nothing of ordering a £65 bottle to go with their pub grub (amazingly, there was no shortage of these on our visit). Even the more modest wine list is packed with well-chosen bottles, with more than a dozen sold by the glass.” http://www.timeout.com

Initial Thoughts

From the offset The Sands End in Fulham seems to be a quite appalling, oink filled Fulham restaurant masquerading as a gastro pub. It was tipping down with rain when the duty manager, who’s name was Toby, asked a dripping me if he could assist. I told him I had a table and received a “yar, tremendous” in return. After noting these lovelies on the bar, I got a real old man’s pint glass of Tribute and sat to scribble this review in its present tone – namely a soggy, pissed off one. Still I came up with the title:

“OINK FACTOR FIVE”

This restaurant bar is not one for the Fulham Broadway crowd. It is misplaced off the road to Wandsworth, where, with its great lighting, eclectic menu, and nouveau Pottery Barn furniture, it would be better situated off Sloane Square, or close to Notting Hill Gate.

The food looks and smells great though, other than the desserts, that tend to be pink and white mush in a glass (the rhubarb fool) or brown goop in a glass (Sticky Toffee Sunday). Tweed was heavily apparent as no one would be seen in Burberry or Barbour now the riffraff have copied them. On Sundays the bar area, and front seating area is taken up by diners. This is not a bar to hang out in on a Sunday. In Sunday is transformed into a restaurant. Actually, this pissed me off, as the bar was not a place to stand, leaving a tiny ledge to one side, that was right next to where the army of servers stood and chatted.

One thing I did notice, was a couple sitting to my left attempting for ten minutes to get the attention of one of the servers (of which I counted 8) for something as simple as a bottle of tap water. Still, that was their Sunday lunch experience, and here is mine.

The Food

Starters

(From Left to Right – Jerusalem artichoke soup – Nick, duck rillettes – Darren, beetroot and blood orange salad – Sue)

Mains

(From Left to Right – beef – Darren, Adam, Nick, chicken – Duncan, Erin, pork belly – Sue)

Dessert

(From Left to Right – bread and butter pudding with apricot ice cream – Sue, apple crumble – Darren, sticky toffee sundae – Sue and Erin, fig and walnut tart – Adam)

Observations – Collective and Individual

• Feels like I am in the middle of nowhere, a residential area – not London town. I like the decor though. – Sue
• Barman made a bloody Mary too spicy, apologized and made another batch…….actually, Requested spicy one was perfect, requested milder one was remade, to perfection!
• This is good, really good – Nick, on his beverage
• Very strange having orange segments with a beetroot salad but very tasty – Sue
• They have a ventilation problem it gets too stuffy and hot so they keep opening the doors and it’s cold.
• My meat is still pulsing – Darren, on his rare beef. To be fair it was actually advertised as being ‘pink’.
• They forgot my Yorkshire – Darren, his plate missing the pud for the second roast in a row. I am not going to start until they complete my meal.
• It yields to the fork, it yields it yields – Darren – testing the Yorkshire when it finally arrived.
• Certainly good Yorkshire and nice beef – Nick
• A lot of beef, very rare – Darren, two really large cuts, not the wafer thin crap last week.
• Really good beef – Nick
• How’s the chicken? Sue
• Good – Erin and Duncan both eating
• Near perfect roast potatoes – Darren
• My parsnips look like old bits of rope but are tasty – Sue
• I’m enjoying my roast but maybe I’m just hungry – Darren
• Fantastic roast I love it rare – Adam
• Not sure about the veg it’s semi-pureed – Sue, on what I think was mashed swede with sugar, or maybe squash.
• This place doesn’t know what it is – Darren
• The pork was fatty – Sue
• Nick: beef was very tasty, even though a bit rarer than I normally have. Yorkshire pud 5/5. Plenty of horse radish and gravy. Veg was a bit of a mash hybrid.
• Can’t see the football – Nick Turns out to be rugby
• Yes the Yorkshire was top score – Sue
• I enjoyed my meal – Duncan
• They are a proper pub in the week, it’s just Sundays are a bit crazy – Darren
• Darren has left half his meat ???
• Duncan and Adam will be having whiskey for dessert
• There is a big discussion on the deserts. No healthy eating here!
• Sticky Toffee Sundae – brown goo in glass???
• I overheard the waiter explaining the roasts all come in children’s sizes
• The sultanas in the bread and butter pudding are actually figs – huge
• The burnt breadcrumbs on my apple pie were cooked in the same fat as the roast pots – Darren
• Adam: my tart was ok but the sponge was a bit dry
• Erin : wow! I really enjoyed that. After racing to the finish, and emptying her Sticky Toffee Sundae first. So quick Adam suggested she necked it.
• Duncan – roast was good but service was a little slow
• We all liked the roast pots
• Duncan – that food didn’t stand a chance
• Nick – the roast potatoes are very good, cooked in dragon fat
• As soon as the rugby came on, the front of the restaurant, supposedly the bar area in the week, suddenly got loud and raucous.
• I wasn’t impressed by the desserts – Sue

Scores

Afterword

If I summed up the Sands End using a knee jerk reaction I would probably say that it was “tasty, but up itself.” But I think that would be unfair. The appetizers were all great, Nick had never had Jerusalem artichoke soup and loved it, my duck rillettes was great, far better than the same dish I had at the Crabtree. The salad was a strange and intriguing mix too. The mains were all good, despite the meat all coming rare, and the Yorkshire being omitted until it was delivered later. Note: This seemed to be a common occurrence as we saw lots of bread plates with just Yorkshires on being delivered. The Yorkshires did yield to the fork, the roast potatoes were nigh on perfect, and the meat would have made Oscar happy as a clam. The desserts were disappointing though.

I may have railed a little early on in the initial thoughts,but they were my initial thoughts, and we do not pull out punches on the Quest for the Perfect Sunday Roast. Would I go back? For sure, but not on a Sunday. It felt too hurried, too snotty. In the week, I am assured it feels like an actual pub and not a restaurant masquerading as one.

I would say 9 thumbs up out of the 12 there, the thumbs staying down due to the lack of ambiance, and the awful desserts.

The Windmill

Heading to the south of Clapham Common this week are Darren and Frankie (suffering from internal issues), Roland (off the sauce), Vera, Duncan, Anya and Nate with baby Lev, Olga with grown up Lev and Kate (up for her second feast).

This was a pretty straight shot for most, with Nate and Anya and Duncan hopping over from Fulham, Lev and Olga are locals, and the rest of us were glad the Northern line seems to be the most reliable of all at the weekend.

So to the venue, and to be honest I didn’t like it one bit. It is on the common side of the street and we could hear tinny music blearing out of speakers attached to the side of the building. This was basically to entertain those who had positioned themselves in the outdoor space at the tables for the foreseeable future, to drink themselves into a stupor. NOTE: It was clear this was the kind of venue we were talking about – people go and play on the common, then get steamed at The Windmill.

Inside it was a heaving nest of mess. I didn’t know where the pub ended and the hotel started, or the hotel ended and the toilets started. It was just too busy, like an airport departures area full of drunks, football fans, and far too many children for it to have a good safety record.

The dining area is in the conservatory, and to get there you have to walk through the outside tables, the bar area, and a large seated area, mostly of children and it is far too cramped. Duncan immediately noticed this, saying that it is a London thing, to cram far too many tables into a pub. I agree, a la Duke of Wellington. This is not good, esp when we had to little ones wanting to run around. Tables are at baby forehead height, and there is a lot of glass wear within reach.

The Food

Appetizers

(From left to right – Half dozen oysters on the half shell – Nate and Anya, Artichoke heart and sun dried tomato tart – Lev and Olga)

Mains

(From left to right – either the lamb or the beef, none of us could tell, and either the beef or lamb – Kate, Darren, Vera, Roland, Lev, and Kate, sausage and mash – Olga, salmon – Frankie, Nate and Anya)

Desserts

(From left to right – STP with banana ice cream – Roland and Vera, Lev and Olga, Anya and Nate, Talisker Bread and Butter pudding – Darren and Frankie, Duncan, Kate)

Observations and Comments (Collective and Individual)

• No toilet paper in toilet – Franc, and the bathroom was just dirty. This was not a restaurant bathroom, this was a bar bathroom.
• Large waitress acted as if she was doing us a favour when taking our order. – Franc We never got asked if we wanted more drinks.
• Generally when the nappy fillers are there we get better service, or attention. This wasn’t there.
• Toffee ice cream was heavy. There was no Talisker. It was more like a cheap supermarket dessert – Franc.
• Really really busy.
• Really noisy
• Really crowded
• Music throughout
• Nice day, walk through common
• Worst service I have ever seen – Darren
• She is not very friendly – Lev
• She is friendly but not very efficient – Duncan
• Lamb and beef overcooked.
• No Yorkshire for Darren
• Brought veg Kate specifically asked not to have
• Beef and lamb look the same – like kebab meat – Duncan
• Not impressed – Duncan
• Everything was overcooked
• Yorkshire came when I complained – Darren
• Worst Yorkshire ever – it does not yield to the fork or the knife
• Yorkshire could be used as a cricket ball At lords – Kate
• Roast potatoes are not crispy
• Odd that we had a 2 hour window when the food came 90 mins into the meal
• The horseradish is good – Roland but it came from a jar
• Baby Bethany tried to pull Roland’s beef on the floor – which he said would not give him something to complain about
• Roland – how is your lamb, Vera?
• Vera – it’s very dry
• My potatoes are soggy – Roland
• This meat is a poultry portion – Kate
• Darren only ate it because he was hungry
• Kate and Duncan only ate it because they had been running before
• The veg is alright, the potatoes are really salty, but the salmon is nice -Frank
• The lamb was too thinly sliced and overcooked, some bits very chewy. Veg ok. Mint sauce awful. Very average quality overall.
• (I cleaned the plate though but only because we waited for the roast for about an hour, I was about to bite a piece of my fork off by the time it arrived) -Lev
• A good piece of salmon, moist and juicy. Disgusting onion pieces, but perfectly crisp parsnips and carrots. Hollandaise sauce reminds rather of lemony butter than the actual sauce. – Nate
• Anya – Nice atrium for dining.
• Good salmon, potatoes a bit overcooked.
• All together not bad. Nate
• I am disappointed – Kate – I went on their site and there was a baked chocolate cheesecake and it is not on the menu
• Roast beef arrived minus the Yorkshire pudding. Three painfully thin slices if meat on the plate.
• The Yorkshire puddings were so hard that they belong at either the Oval or Lords and should be bowled during the summer! The beef was over cooked and resembled shoe leather. A most disappointing lunch – Kate
• When we walked in the pub,we were quite excited to the atmosphere and thought this is a great pub for babies. However, it took us more than an hour to get food. By then, it is already hard for babies continue sitting still. Service is not as great as I expected maybe because it is too busy on Sunday. Food: I had lamb leg. Meat itself was too rough and dry. Yorkshire pudding was too hard. Roasted vegetable is okay.
• Based on the price, I don’t think lamb roast is worth the price – Vera
• Dreadful toilets – only cool thing was boy or girl shoes on door – stank and didn’t flush
• Bread and butter pudding is edible – not enough to save the meal though – Darren
• Sticky toffee pudding was again unfortunately a little over cooked. It came with banana ice-cream despite the polite request for vanilla, this was corrected just as I was finishing the pudding – Kate
• Mm where to start… Main was over cooked and resembled a kebab from my local at 2am. Roasties are always hard to get right when made in mass, but not impossible. Crunchy shell with fluffy white insides is essential..as a qualified chef I would expect him to know this. Desert was plain and bland and saved by the ice-cream. Service should be improved too – Duncan
• Roland:My roast potatoes were soggy. The roast was rather uninspiring. The horseradish sauce was acceptable but it likely emerged fully formed out of a bottle. The environment was reasonable, though. This might make a good place for a pint, but for the love of God stay away from the roast.
• So bad Kate gave it minus 1 for food, so we rounded it up to 0.
• Olga: I must say that the sausages and mash were very decent, but it is hard to spoil sausages. The starter was good (we had artichokes), pudding was fine, but on the whole nothing remarkable. The place is ok but nothing special, the waitress was strange…
• More comments (Lev): starter was quite good and STP with banana ice-cream really good. Very slow and not attentive service.
• Kate – took 40 mins plus to order and service was slap dash.
• Changing facilities were bad – and no light

Scores

Afterword

If I was younger, and had spent a sunny day playing Frisbee on Clapham Common with my mates, I would go to the Windmill on the Common. But really I don’t think any of us would go back based on our experience today. The waiting staff were rude or non existent. Kate specifically asked for no peas or squash, and still got it. Darren had no Yorkshire. The food was so bad we couldn’t tell what was beef and what was lamb. Really, we couldn’t. It isn’t a joke. One had mint sauce, one had horseradish. That was the only difference. The Yorkshire was dreadful and no one ate them. The dessert wasn’t much better, and could have been from a supermarket.

Bad. Second in its badness only to the infamous Sun in Splendor.

Joining Nate and Anya, and baby Lev, to their local, is Darren, sans Francoise as she is in New York, and newcomer Kate.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

There is the new name, which I think we prefer, new decor, not too sure about the purple, new website (tick) and new menu (double tick).

Here is their menu http://www.cocktavern.co.uk/menus.php and I am more than happy with it.

Now, we do like change, and we like change for the better, and, given communication with the Cock Tavern has been good over Twitter we have high hopes that on this second visit, sort of like diet TV shows when they go back to make sure that fatties or skinnies are eating properly, or hoarders are keeping the place clean and tidy, things will be wonderful.

What we said last time…

WEBSITE

The site itself is fugly and not very intuitive.

Fugly

Not Very Intuitive

THE DECOR

The pub has clearly had a makeover. Outside are about four or five tables under umbrellas on a nice decking. Inside the dining area is raised while the rest of the pub is full of comfy leather couches and armchairs. This is definitely a sit and chat pub, not a stand with your mates twenty deep at the bar pub.

THE FOOD

First negative point was that the midweek menu on the website is pretty much the week long menu, the only difference being the inclusion of two specials for Sunday, a roast chicken with veg, and a baked sea bass, that seemed to take everyone’s eye.

What we say this time…

There is a marked change in the interior. The new look is Funky East Village coffee shop/diner complete with booths, eclectic seating including a bubble chair suspended from the ceiling and mirrors on the ceiling.

The music was a little loud though, and I found it intrusive when I first arrived.

Gone are the comfy leather arm chairs and sofas of before, gone are the shin bruising low coffee tables, and in their place are no matching chairs, and coffee shop tables.

The pork scratchings are still there, and have been joined by these lovelies.

Now one thing I did notice is that, although the new menu is substantially better, including a great brunch menu (served til 2pm) the prices are going up too. The whole seabass that everyone loved last time for £9 is now 13.50.

The Food

(From left to right – Eggs Benedict – Nate, Seabass – Anya, pork belly – Darren and  Kate)

We also had salt and pepper squid but this arrived much later than expected and didn’t get photographed.

Dessert

(From left to right – Treacle tart and clotted cream – Anya and Kate, bread and butter pudding with boozy prunes – Darren)

Thoughts and Observations (Collective and Individual)

• Kate asked specifically for no cale or peas but still got some when the food came.
• Appetizer didn’t come before the mains.
• I feel they put a lot of effort in but am going to slam them for the eggs Benedict – what I thought was hollandaise was actually butter – Nate. Then when he questioned this the staff member went away and came back to tell us that hollandaise was 90% butter. It was nice of her to come out but being from the US, we have eaten eggs benedict 100s of times for brunch it is not butter, it is eggy, and citrusy. Here is the actual recipe.

1. 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
2. 6 peppercorns
3. 1 dried bay leaf
4. 2 eggs, yolks only
5. 125g/4oz butter
6. lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

• If the squid didn’t have so much salt it would be nice but… but it does – Nate – It was actually inebible.
• Help is really nice
• I wanna give them the benefit of the doubt – Nate
• I like the old school music – Anya – it was Blondie, New Order, The Stranglers
• I’m with you – Kate on the music
• I would have liked it a bit crunchy – Kate on the pork, which had disappointly soft crackling.
• Eggplant, raisins and cornichons but it works, it is well presented – Anya on her fish, a new dish the chef was working on
• Anya and Kate had treacle tart – Kate asked for ice cream instead of clotted cream, both then came with ice cream, even though Anya wanted clotted cream
• Treacle tart is nice but the pastry is too firm and thick – Kate
• Bread and butter pudding had a weird after taste – like eggy cheese – Darren who left it
• Overly sweet tart and pastry was too hard – I expected clotted cream and was given ice cream – no attention to detail – Anya
• Only white sugar with latte – Anya
• Love the ambiance – Anya
• Lot of things wrong with the food, but the people were nice, and the things wrong were little and fixable – Nate
• Nice clean disabled toilet/changing room – Nate
• Decor is awesome – Anya
• Baby friendly – brought hot water right away
• No baked apple with meal ether – Kate, noticing something else that was missed
• They really need to sort out communication between waiting staff and kitchen – Anya, listing the count of mistakes – overly salty squid, no clotted cream on ice cream, no demarara sugar with coffee, butter instead of hollandaise, starter brought after main
• It wasn’t hot – Kate I like it hot
• Rugby started and sound ramped up
• And it took an age for the bill

The Scores

Afterword

Last time they scored 3.615265 so there is a bit of an improvement but the score was bumped down and down by silly mistakes that could well be ironed out if they are brought to the right person’s attention. We know the manager from conversations on Twitter and we know he wants to make a difference with this pub, hence the great refurbishment, so hopefully the short list of fixes can be addressed. Really, the staff were wonderful, the new decor is great, the menu was excellent, the Bloody Mary and further bar snacks ideal, but what let The Cock Tavern down was the eye for detail not being there. It has been mentioned before but the squid was far too salty and, even though ordered as an appetiser, came after the mains, given all the gimmicks, like working phones in the booths, you would have thought they could bring brown sugar as well as white with coffee, the menu was either off, or the kitchen are not aware of what they are making as the pork should have come with a baked apple, but didn’t, Kate specifically asked for no green veg but still got it, Kate asked for ice cream with her Treacle tart, and Anya did not, but Anya still got ice cream when she wanted the advertised clotted cream, the pork belly crackling was soft and chewy and mine had a lot of bones in, and the bill took an absolute age to come. All these are little things, but in the end, as you can see for the scores, they were all ticked off from our food scores and brought the average down.

Would I go there again? Absolutely, especially as we now have 4 questers in the hood. Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. While the score does not tell the whole picture, it does illustrate a work in progress, where things just ain’t right yet.

Over-priced and noisy

http://www.thedukew1.co.uk/menus/sundaylunch.pdf - the menu is here. Now, I did look at this after the Christmas and New Year break and thought “crikey O’Reilly! How much?” but then after checking two other possible venues it looks as if the dear old Duke of Wellington wasn’t conning the world, the prices seemed quite normal. I like the selection, plenty of good looking appetisers and mains to play “the game” with. I especially like the idea of the rillettes with chorizo and the pork shoulder. Apparently the STP is to die for.

What Others Are Saying

Disclaimer. The views hereafter are not representative of the Quest for a Sunday Roast or any member of the Quest team

“Grossly overpriced for what is very average pub food.” www.google.co.uk “wow, had the roast leg of salt marsh lamb. It was great. The gravy was amazing, yorkies were very good. Everything here was good, but be ready to plonk down some cash.” www.google.co.uk “Best pub in London If youre looking for good food, good service and good atmosphere, the Duke of Wellington is your place. The service here screams of professional elegance whilst the food shouts with its sophisticated flavours and unashamed simplicity. On my last visit I tried the Ham Hock and Wild Mushroom Tagietelle , priced at £14. It was worth every penny. The pasta, which was well cooked, clung to the elegant sauce well, and made for a well rounded wholesome and good value dish. For dessert I had their signature Sticky Toffee Pudding, which was the best I’ve tried. The banana ice cream accompaniment was simple and thoughtful. The wine list is full of hidden gems at manageable prices. A Bourgogne Aligote at £22 is the highlight. By the glass the choice is big and varied. Try a Sangiovese, or settle for House, they’re all tasty and well thought out. Marylebone, and London more generally, has needed a place like this for a while. A place where … If youre looking for good food, good service and good atmosphere, the Duke of Wellington is your place. The service here screams of professional elegance whilst the food shouts with its sophisticated flavours and unashamed simplicity. On my last visit I tried the Ham Hock and Wild Mushroom Tagietelle , priced at £14. It was worth every penny. The pasta, which was well cooked, clung to the elegant sauce well, and made for a well rounded wholesome and good value dish. For dessert I had their signature Sticky Toffee Pudding, which was the best I’ve tried. The banana ice cream accompaniment was simple and thoughtful. The wine list is full of hidden gems at manageable prices. A Bourgogne Aligote at £22 is the highlight.” www.google.co.uk “Decorated in the deeply dull ‘gastropub’ style which is to common these days, and filled people who mainly look like young Tories, this is a restaurant and not really a pub. Such a shame – the pre-makeover Wellington had real character.”www.beerintheevening.com “I wanted to hate this new gastropub because it replaced a corking little boozer that dripped character from every creaky pore. The transformation antique to gastro-chic has been accomplished with the standard asylum white-washing of the walls and removal of decorative trinkets. The place has been culturally sterilised and the charm is gone. However, the food is great. I was dragged there by a “food-loving” friend of mine and had some bisque and cottage pie. Both were excellent. Even the bread on the side was cooked fresh and tasted great.”www.beerintheevening.com “Aiming for a sober and sophisticated crowd, the Duke of Wellington’s decor is neutral and understated, though the large number of pictures tilts it towards a slightly idiosyncratic feel. Nothing too tasteless, you understand. The staff are friendly and the beers good – usually three ales on, while the wine list looks reasonable, too.” www.fancyapint.com

Initial Thoughts

The pub was well situated on a nice West London side street close to Baker Street. The layout downstairs was pretty terrible, the tables were set against the windows and too crammed in, meaning we were constantly either having to shuffle around to let people out, or were being asked by the adjacent tables to move our chairs to allow them out.

The wine list was long and expensive, while there was a £4.60 SMALL glass of red, the majority of the list was in the teens. Really? The menu, all said and done, and regardless of other comparable pubs, was also expensive.

There were a lot black clad staff on, and when we arrived they were attentive enough to ask us if we wanted a drink. From there on though, it all went a bit downhill.

The Food

Mains

(From left to right – beef – Darren, Roland, lamb – Vera, Pinar, fish and chips – Suma, Claire, mussels – Francoise)

Desserts

(From left to right – apple crumble and custard – Darren, Claire, Chocolate and Amaretti pudding – Pinar, Cheese – Franc, STP with banana ice cream – Suma)

Observations and Comments (Individual and Collective)

• Nice and bright, airy. Not a fan of the art work but the place is clean – Darren
• Beef bloody and rare – Darren
• The Bloody Mary was really good – Darren

• The Horseradish pot was on the plate, in the gravy, and was messy to extract it – Darren
• Darren – how’s the lamb?
• Pinar – cold. Is it supposed to be cold?
• Darren – no it’s not supposed to be cold
• Claire – the fish is nuclear hot
• They are posh mushy peas – Suma,  not that I am complaining.
• Very buttery – Claire on mushy peas, also liking them, but also leaving them.
• Baby was a little grumpy – the staff were ok but the guy sitting next to us was a snotty, stubble chinned ass. I was tempted to suggest that if he hates children so much why doesn’t he and his group of West End wannabes volunteer to be steralized.
• It was cold, not very good. One crunchy potato was good, one was cold. – Pinar
• This was really overpriced – Pinar
• Good. Fish was lovely – Claire
• Chips were cold, mussels were lovely – Francoise
• Their chunky chips were like French fries, Suma. I thought they got it wrong then I saw the ones that come with the mussels, that were even thinner.
• Bit small, bit cramped – big enough for a local place – Pinar
• Was not asked if I wanted drinks throughough meal only when we first arrived. So we all got one drink…
• Very expensive. £17 for fish, chips and mushy peas? – Suma
• Cheapest small glass of wine was £4.60 most expensive £16.70 for a glass!!! – Franc
• Not attentive staff.
• Over-priced.
• Lamb was ok. Tender. – Vera
• No steak knives so meat was tricky eat – Darren
• Gravy was nice – All
• No bread. We have decided to mark all places down that don’t give bread. And on top of that, hiding at the bottom of the menu that we didn’t have for the rest of the meal…

• £1 per person for bread!!!
• Food took ages to come – both courses – and then, as they have 2 hour sittings, the staff kept looking over and grumbling, despite them getting our dessert order wrong and delaying our eating by 20 mins.
• Roland – a little bit above average, 3.5, plate was not large enough, so when you moved the Yorkshire around, food spilled off sides – Yorkshire was average. They did a good job at the roast potatoes though.
• Toilets were eh – Pinar
• Not enough spoons – Claire
• Dessert order mixed up – down two STP.
• Banana ice cream works – Suma – citing the reason that Franc and Darren did not order the STP, being bluff old traditionalists
• Sticky pudding is very nice – Pinar
• This even pips the STP from the Princess Victoria – Suma
• Shocking – didn’t once ask if we wanted drinks – Darren
• Technically the food was pretty good but I just wasn’t impressed over all – Claire
• That’s not a dessert, that’s a work of art – Brazilian waitress about Pinar’s dessert
• Felt very harried in the end – Didn’t like it

Scores

Afterword

The experience was only a good one because of spending time with good people. 2012 is the year of austerity when presence more than presents work for Christmas and birthdays. The staff were not attentive at all, after getting drinks as we arrived we were not once asked if we wanted drinks. They just didn’t seem like professional servers at all. The wine list was extensive but expensive. The food was very very expensive for what it was. A £17 fish and chips, are you sure? I therefore have to agree with the reviews from online, this was very over-priced, slightly above average pub fair. This is not gastropub good, this was Weatherspoons and Yates’ good. And given at those chain pubs you are eating for under a fiver, what can I say?

Would I go there again? Not on your life. When asked, Pinar said if she was local she would, but only for a coffee.

I am hoping the first quest roast of 2012 is the worst of 2012, because if there are worse, then lord help us.

3.3/5

PS the annexation of the bar bill never happened as we were never asked for drinks from the moment they took out first order.