Gastro Pub Club...

[tony h]

Yes it's annoying but consistent with the no reservations policy - otherwise they'd get people occupying tables for half an hour before they ordered just waiting for their friend to turn up.

They will let you sit if you order for the missing person.

As I say, annoying, but the food's worth it.

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when people turn up early - don't they tend to buy drinks, talk, relax, have a good time & isn't that what its all about? I give them money & in return I get a good meal & lovely time. how stupid of me. they can only get away with these policies of people put up with them. Is the food really worth it? No.

The "enforcer" of this policy was quite overbearing . I'm sure I had a run in with her at St John - dunno, can't remember - but she certainly put me off the place.

[Andy Lynes]

Being charitable to the pub, maybe they are a victim of their own success and just trying to be fair to all their customers by seating those parties who are ready to order and won't keep a table tied up for longer than is necessary. That way they can seat more people in an evening and both sides win. That said, I completely see your point Tony and if it's that much of a struggle to get a seat I'd rather go somewhere less hectic.

[MobyP]

Chefs who can't stand the heat... get into the kitchen

[Brenda]

We had a good lunch this summer at "The Mall Tavern" just off Kensington Church street.

I had a lovely rocket salad with pecorino and hearts of palm, and chips with aoli and tomato chili jam. My husband had sausages and some sort of roasted vegetables. It was quiet and pleasant.

[offcentre]

If you ever find yourself in Brighton you can do a lot worse than going to Firle - a very quaint little village a few miles past Lewes on the A27. Not only does it have a church that has been there pre 1066 that is well worth a look it also has the Ram Inn.

With a nice Harveys Sussex Best at a ridiculous £2 a pint it might be worth it for that alone but it serves a fine range of very reasonable bar food in 3 tastefully and minimally decorated rooms.

I've been 4 or 5 times in the last few months as it has plenty of room inside and out for my little nipper to run around and cause trouble - especially chasing after the chickens that are free in the big back garden.

Recent meals have included some of the best fish cakes I've had, a decent Sunday roast with Firle lamb, good steak sandwich and chicken and tarragon sandwich, a nice mushroom and chestnut bake and a fine ploughmans.

Nothing ground-breaking, but as I say, very nice bar food all below a tenner in a nice wood-fire-warmed friendly environment.

If you don't like it there you can get yourself to the Jolly Sportsman not ten minutes away in East Chiltington, which is even better.

[tsg20]

So, what are the best gastropubs in London these days? I keep on going back to the Anchor & Hope, but are there others out there which are as good?

For example (stolen from the other thread) here's this year's Time Out picks:

Best Gastropub: Marquess Tavern, 32 Canonbury St, N1 2TB

Charles Lamb, 16 Elia Street

Inn at Kew Gardens, 292 Sandycombe Road

Phoenix, 14 Palace Street

The Queen’s Pub and Dining Room, 26 Broadway Parade

We dropped into the Marquess the other day, and it looked like a nice pub, with a good-looking (if expensive) menu - but how's the food? I'm reluctant to check any of these out without some recommendations, as I fear I'll just regret not paying another visit to the A&H.

[naebody]

For example (stolen from the other thread) here's this year's Time Out picks:

Best Gastropub: Marquess Tavern, 32 Canonbury St, N1 2TB

Charles Lamb, 16 Elia Street

Inn at Kew Gardens, 292 Sandycombe Road

Phoenix, 14 Palace Street

The Queen’s Pub and Dining Room, 26 Broadway Parade

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Only one of those I've tried is the Inn at Kew, which was as ordinary as a Brake Brothers catering pack.

Not sure if the 90s model gastropub still exists, to be honest. They seem to have replaced greasy spoons as the nation's provider of low-quality food. And the few that do raise the standard a bit, such as the Havelock Tavern and The Cow, end up charging tablecloth prices and attracting a surprising number of boorish idiots (both clientelle and staff).

The places I tend to recommend these days -- such as The Thomas Cubitt, or The Princess in Shoreditch -- are basically restaurants that can do beer.

[camp_dick]

As Sir Matthew of Fortesque says: 'A pub can hardly call itself a pub any more without its menu of chilli-grilled squid, grilled tuna, damned grilled goat's cheese, Old Spot sausages, steak and chips, tiramisu and sticky toffee pudding. There are sub-British, cod-Continental, trashy-Thai. Out has gone real food cooked by real chefs with real skills. In have come cloned dishes from identikit menus produced to a formula by scarcely trained - what? Cooks? Chefs? Hardly. I'm not sure there is a classification for the people currently working in many gastropub kitchens any more. Cooking has been reduced to the lowest common denominator. Technology, centralised production, commercial homogenisation have taken over from style, class, taste and personality'