Randomness Guide to London Menu

Pub in Fitzrovia, refurbished in late 2007.

Kake, Bec, Katie, Sarah, Kat, and Ruudboy visited for lunch on a Friday in late November, after the refurbishment. The cider-drinkers among us were pleased to learn that they had several choices of real cider available, though we mostly stuck to the rather decent Addlestone's Cloudy (£3.10/pint). There was some real ale available; Kat tried the Doom Bar, but it tasted a bit strange, somewhat sour. They also offer a range of interesting soft drinks (e.g. Big Tom spiced tomato juice, blueberry/acai juice, Fentiman's ginger beer, etc).

The decor inside is a bit Soho, but quite comfortable; the downstairs part has lots of leather banquettes and dark wood. There's another room upstairs but we didn't check it out. The music wasn't bad at all, and not too loud. We noticed that the staff turned it down temporarily if an unusually loud track came on - what excellent attention to detail!

Unfortunately the "lunch" part of the outing didn't go as well as it could have. Bec and Katie were lucky enough to order just before the rush, but when Ruudboy and Kake ordered 15 minutes later at just before 1pm, we were told there would be a 25-minute wait for food, and this in fact turned out to be a 50-minute wait. (We were comped a couple of drinks later on in an attempt to make up for this, but one of the people affected had already gone back to work.)

Bec and Kake both had macaroni cheese (£6); it was a bit bland, without much cheese flavour, and somewhat underseasoned, but it was served nice and hot and the pasta wasn't overcooked. Kake didn't think it was at all stodgy (though Sarah tried some of mine and thought it was overly floury). It was served as a decent-sized individual casserole dish full, with no unnecessary bits and pieces on the side.

The macaroni cheese is the only vegetarian option on the main menu, though the specials board on our visit did have one extra option; mushroom and asparagus risotto.

Mains on the regular menu are all priced between £6 (macaroni cheese) and £8.50 (fish pie with haddock, salmon, and prawns). The specials board on our visit offered beef stew with crusty bread (£4.50), cottage pie (£6.90), mushroom and asparagus risotto (£6.90), fish and chips (£7.50), boar and apple sausages (£7.50), and chicken, leek, and ham pie served with mash (£8.90).

Sandwiches are between £3.90 (cheese and pickle, served with an apple) and £5.50 (sirloin steak and mustard, served with onion rings). Chips with aioli are £2.50, and puddings are £3.50.

Bar snacks also look interesting; as well as mixed olives, wasabi peas, chilli puffs, and various kinds of nuts (all £2.10), they also serve sausage rolls, pork pies with piccallili, and chipolatas with mustard (all £3.50).

Breakfast is served from 10am to around noon, with several options including porridge with honey (£2.50) and a full veggie breakfast (with veggie sausages). Both the full English and the full veggie are £5. On Sundays, a roast is available from noon.

Despite our lunch service disaster, this place probably deserves another try; it's most likely better outside peak times, and it is nice to have a decent choice of cider.

See also:

• Kake's photos of the menu: breakfast, main menu, cider and beer menu, wine and soft drink list
• Beer in the Evening comments
• Fancy A Pint review