Kings Head Pub 84 Upper Tooting Road, Tooting SW17 7PB London
Reviewed on Tuesday 12 May 2009
Kings Head pub
It is surprising to find the Kings Head pub and its imposing old building in a street dominated by Indian/Pakistani restaurants. It is listed on CAMRA inventory of London’s pubs heritage where they say “Designed by the prolific pub architect, W. M. Brutton, and built in 1896. An architecturally eclectic confection outside but retaining important remnants of the original building – tilework, screens, etched glass, counter and bar-back and also a large and imposing billiard room.” We have to agree it is a very nice pub, extremely spacious compared to many other pubs. The downside was the atmosphere, or the lack of it. Maybe because of its dimensions it appeared somewhat empty.
Like in any pub, the meals go from sausages to curry. For example they had fish and chips (hand-battered fish with chips, minted mushy peas, tartare sauce and a seared half lemon – £6.75), the pie of the day served with mash, seasonal vegetables and gravy (£5.95), the sausage of the day served with mash and a sticky onion gravy (£6.25), a lemon and garlic chicken skewers (two marinated chicken skewers served with rice, roasted vegetables and a low fat garlic and mint yoghurt dressing – £7.35), a spicy roasted half chicken served with salad, chips and salsa (£7.60), moules frites served with fries and mayonnaise (£8.55) or a steak frites (grilled bavette steak with fries and béarnaise sauce, served with a watercress garnish – £7.15) . We ordered the fish and chips and the steak frites with two pints of Budvar. The steak was well cooked and tender and the béarnaise sauce was good. The fries could have been warmer and crispier.
The counter
Nice decoration
A pint of Budvar beer
Steak frites
Fish and chips
The two meals
Cost and conclusion: £20.82 for two pub meals and two pints, it is fair. It is not a gastro pub, but the food was decent and the beer good. What else to ask from a pub as even the design was impressive? Well, probably some buzz as it is lacking some soul. Still, a good place to stop if you feel hungry in the area and are looking for a pub meal. In the same street a minute walk away toward Tooting Broadway tube station there is Al Mirage if you are into curry.
The Ship Tavern, 12 Gate St, Holborn London WC2A 3HP Reviewed on Sunday 3 May 2009 lunch time
Cosy interior
Note the TV screen at the right for sport events
Last time we went there (reviewed 12 April 2009) we said we will be coming again, so here we are We both ordered the twice-cooked crisp pork belly served with buttered mash potato, green beans, port gravy & spiced apple sauce (£9.95) and beers (Budvar). We also ordered a Doorstep sandwich – Fish fingers (breaded cod goujons with homemade tartare & rocket leaves – £5.55), as promised in the last review. The crisp pork belly were great, like last time but slightly less crispy while being still very good. The buttered mash potato is real, not based on powder as it happens in some pubs. The fish finger sandwich, which we took as a starter to share mostly because we were curious about it, was excellent. To be honest, I thought it was going to be somewhat nasty, heavy, dry and greasy… Well, it was very nice, almost a refined sandwich! The bread was moist and quite good, the fish fingers were perfect (crispy outside) and the rocket leaves and tartare sauce gave a nice touch. We were pleasantly impressed by it. The photos do not show well how good the lunch was. The Ship Tavern is an old, small & cosy pub and it is fairly dark inside. You can eat on the tables outside on the footpath if you wish to.
The doorstep fish finger sandwich!
Details of the fish fingers sandwich
Bad photo of an autopsy of a fish fingers sandwich :-)
Crisp pork belly and mash potato
Overview
Cost and conclusion: once again it was an excellent lunch at the Ship Tavern. The cost was about £35. We will be back to try more of their menu! The service was friendly like it was last time.
Marquess of Anglesey restaurant 39 Bow Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7AU
Reviewed on Monday 13 April 2009 evening
Covent Garden
Marquess of Anglesey
View from the restaurant
Alta Vista Premium Malbec 2007
Roast loin of pork
8oz exmoor beef burger
Absolutely nasty!
The Ship Tavern 12 Gate St, London, WC2A 3HP
Reviewed Sunday 12 April 2009
The Ship Tavern in Holborn
This Sunday we decided to try a traditional pub after yesterday’s not so great experience. We went to the Ship Tavern pub in Holborn. It is close to Sir John Soane’s Museum and not far from Covent Garden. Like many pubs you can get fish & chips (haddock dipped in our homemade beer batter & served with chips, minted pea puree & homemade tartare sauce – £9.95), a Tavern burger (home-made 8oz beef burger with mature English cheddar, smoked bacon, chips & Bloody Mary ketchup – £9.55), a whole baked camembert (baked in its box & served with a chunk of crusty bread & a fig & chilli marmalade – £6.95) but also some less usual meal like the Doorstep sandwiches Fish finger (breaded cod goujons with homemade tartare & rocket leaves – £5.55) I promise to try next time I come here. We ordered roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, roasted vegetables with horseradish sauce (£12.95) and a Crisp Pork belly served with buttered mash potato, green beans, port gravy & spiced apple sauce (£9.95) and two beers (Budvar).
The roast beef was all right but it wasn’t hot enough and it was badly cut so it was quite tough. It was not overcooked. The Yorkshire pudding was very good, the roasted potatoes were well done too. The crisp pork belly was excellent! It has been a long time since have eaten a nice pork (it was at Botin restaurant in Madrid – considered to be the oldest restaurant in the world – where their beef was wonderful too. It just lacked some better sauce). The meat was tender and the skin nicely crispy. It was so good that I worry I might not have it done the same way next time I come back!
Roast beef
Crisp pork belly
The two courses
Cost and conclusion: The lunch was excellent and all for £29.70. This was a very nice discovery and we plan to go there again!
The County Arms 345 Trinity Road London SW18 3SH http://www.countyarms.co.uk
Reviewed on Thursday 9 April lunch time
The County Arms in Wandsworth
The County Arms pub is located on the busy Trinity Road at the corner of Alma Terrace. It is facing the sports area of Wandsworth Common. It is a pretty large building and the setting inside is quite spacious and nicely furnished with large tables. We chose a table in the conservatory, to the rear of the building. It was not busy at all, but it was a Thursday lunchtime and I can imagine the place well crowded on Friday evening or during the weekend with all the families going to the park next door.
As starters we ordered potted chicken liver pate with toasted bread (£5.50) and toasted goat’s cheese on a beetroot and potato salad (£5.25). The goat cheese was quite good, generously sized. It was on top of a potato salad which had a good amount of onions which complemented the goat cheese nicely. The potato salad was chilled, it would have been better at room temperature. The goat cheese was hot of course. The beetroot salad has a spicy mustard sauce. The chicken liver was great, smooth and not overpowering. I just wished to have a little more bread, which was excellent too by the way.
The toasted goat's cheese
Potted chicken liver pate
For main courses we had a lamb shank with roasted potatoes and green beans (£9.95) which was their BBQ special for the day and a cumberland sausage with creamy mash and caramelised onion gravy (£8.50). The red wine was a good Le Sanglier Carignan 2007 (£15.45) which went well with the meals we had. The lamb shank was good, it could have been seasoned a little more but that’s not a major complaint. The gravy was not obviously from a packet unlike in many pubs… The potatoes were not fantastic, they were probably pre-roasted and then nuked. They were hot but not crispy. The sausages were fine and the creamy mash good too. It is not a top meal naturally but it was exactly what I expected and wanted in a pub. I was very hungry as you can tell.
Lamb shank
Sausages and mash
For desserts we took the fruit crumble with custard (£4.95) and a bread and butter pudding (£4.95). The fruit crumble was based on plums and was good, not too sweet and a little sour. It was very hot. The bread and butter pudding could have been better. It was fine but was the same as you could get in a hundred other places. Maybe too much eggs and not enough bread and butter.
Bread and butter
Fruit crumble with custard
Cost and conclusion: with two 3 courses meals and a bottle of wine for £60 (including the service charge) the County Arms is reasonably well priced. The surrounding is nice and the service was efficient. We will be back!
