Randomness Guide to London Menu

Good Beer Guide pub in Bayswater.

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.

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). The menu is relatively short, which is generally a good sign.

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, parma ham, chicken liver pate, hummous, artichoke hearts, olives, gherkins, pickled onions, and grilled flatbread (apparently there was supposed to be chorizo too - did anyone notice it?) 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.

See also:

• Kake's photos of the menu as of November 2007: page 1, page 2.
• Beer in the Evening comments
• Fancy A Pint review