Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 14 and Version 13 of Mitre, W2 3QH

Good Beer Guide pub in Bayswater.

Note: This pub was purchased by Young's in early 2008. The comments below predate this change of management.

Kake, Elvum, Martin, Bob, and Richard visited on a Thursday evening in November. Beers available were Doom Bar (£2.70/pint), Black Sheep (£2.70/pint), London Pride (£2.80/pint), TEA, and Bombardier (£2.70/pint). The Doom Bar ran out shortly after we got there but at least they turned the thing round (and it came back on again later). The Black Sheep also ran out at some point and was replaced by Timothy Taylor Landlord (£2.70/pint).

The downstairs part has a main bar area with tables around the edges as well as standing room, plus a few little hideaway areas, one of which has a leather sofa and armchairs and an open fire (was it real or fake?) We saw a sign saying there was more seating upstairs, but we didn't check whether that part was open.

The music was just on the right side of "too loud" (though only just).

We think evening food probably starts around 6pm (they came round and put menus on the tables at 5:45pm on the Thursday of our visit). (NB as of March 2008 the Young's website was advertising food noon-10pm Mon-Sun.) The menu is relatively short, which is generally a good sign. The food isn't cheap, but the quality is good, though not outstanding considering the prices.

Starters/snacks are priced between £4.50 (soup of the day with toasted bread) and £6.50 (mussels in cream, white wine, coriander, and chilli sauce), and include wok-fried squid and chorizo (£5.75) and satay chicken skewers (£5.50). Two of the six non-soup options are vegetarian: red onion and goat cheese tart, and piquillo peppers stuffed with ricotta (both £5). Mains are between £7.50 (garlic, artichoke, and spinach pasta in a tomato sauce - the only vegetarian option) and £12.50 (ribeye steak with chips, salad, and grilled tomato). Chips are £2.50, nachos (vegetarian) are £7.25, and olives with bread or hummous with bread is £2.50. Photos of the full menu: page 1, page 2.

We started with a meat platter (£11) photo to share; this had salami, chorizo, parma ham, chicken liver pate, hummous, artichoke hearts, olives, gherkins, pickled onions, and grilled flatbread and was demolished pretty quickly by the five of us - it would have made a generous starter for two or three people though. There's also a vegetarian platter available at £9.75; we didn't try it, but the menu listed hummous, artichoke hearts, grilled asparagus, spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce, olives, and grilled flatbread.

Elvum ordered a burger (£9.25, served with salad and chips) and they asked him how he wanted it cooked - this is a good sign, although it did come medium rather than rare as requested. The chips were good, obviously hand-cut as described on the menu; though they were pre-salted, which some people don't like. The salad wasn't dressed. The presentation of this dish was interesting - on a small wooden chopping board photo.

Kake ordered the cod steak with mushroom and green peppercorn sauce and mixed salad (£9.25) photo. Although the fish was cooked well, the portion was tiny; it couldn't have been more than about 4oz. Don't order this unless you're not actually hungry - I was the first to finish eating, and I'm normally the last. I even beat Bob. If only they'd included a small portion of chips, or even a piece of bread, it wouldn't have felt like quite such a rip-off.

Martin and Richard had the ribeye steak (£12.50) photo and both seemed pleased with it.

See also:

• Kake's photos of the menu as of November 2007: page 1, page 2.
• Beer In The Evening comments
• Fancyapint review
• Time Out review

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