Hackney, London E8
www.urbaninns.co.uk
Tucked behind the Hackney Empire, this pub is a great find for theatre-goers or those looking for somewhere a bit quirky to stay in East London. It is split into two zones — one with squashy leather sofas and funky chandeliers, and the other laid up for dinner. There are 10 letting rooms upstairs. At 3pm on a Saturday, the last of the pre-matinée diners have left for the show and myself and not one, but two blondes have the restaurant to ourselves. Drinks first — the bar boasts the usual line-up, as well as London Pride and San Miguel. The English wine selection is a nice touch.
Service is swift, considered and not too fussy — and we're lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Scott Wade as he pokes his head out of the kitchen. Scott is used to the
gastro-scene: his pedigree includes working at the Headley, in Essex, and as head chef at the Gun, in Docklands. He has also done a stint with Marco Pierre White at Drones and Mirabelle. He's helping to set up the Urban Inns menu, and new head chef James Barrett will fly the flag on a daily basis. Curiously, just before the kitchen door closes, we notice photographs on the kitchen wall that look a bit like the busts of famous restaurant critics.
Starving after a morning in Oxford Street's Primark and a train and bus journey to Hackney, we skip straight to the main event — chargrilled venison burger fully loaded with beef-dripping chips and spicy ketchup. In this case, "fully loaded" means a Portobello mushroom on a beautiful, large toasted bap, and a fat, juicy venison burger, topped with melted cheddar, gherkin and grilled tomato. The chips are skin-on crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle — perfect for dunking in Faye's mini gravy boat that accompanies her chicken, broccoli and Stilton pie from Essex Larder Pies, a family-run company based at Pyes Farm, Great Dunmow, Essex. The mash is perfectly creamy and peas come in a to-pea-or-not-to-pea pot on the side, while the gravy is gorgeous, meaty, fragrant and plentiful.
Puddings don't disappoint, either: Yorkshire rhubarb crumble and sticky toffee pudding arrive in sizable earthenware ramekins. The light, tart, melt-in-the-mouth crumble offers a great contrast to the rich, thick toffee sauce and moist, heavy sponge.
Three mains, two desserts, a coffee and five beers cost us £56 — worth every penny.
Lucy Britner
PubChef rating: ****
Pub Facts
Owners: New pub company Urban Inns, founded by David Catling and Don MacIntyre.
On the menu:
Snacks: Chipolatas with Maldon mustards (£3); home-made black pudding, mushy peas, brown sauce onions (£3.50); Welsh rarebit soldiers (£3.50)
Starters: rollmop herrings, potato, mustard, horseradish salad (£4.50); devilled kidneys, toast (£5/£8); ham hock & black pudding terrine, pea shoots, Hayward's pickle (£4.50).
Mains: salad of River Farm smoked wood pigeon, lentils, lamb's lettuce, hazelnuts (£10); cushion of lamb, fennel marmalade, wild garlic potatoes, anchovy juices (£14); braised ox liver, mash, spring greens, onion gravy (£9.50).
Desserts: lemon posset & blood orange jelly (£4.50); Yorkshire rhubarb crumble (£4.50); sticky toffee pudding (£4.50).
Menu innovation: Instead of separating the menu into starters, mains and desserts, it has sections about land, sea, birds and wild food, sheep, pigs and cows. Each heading has a brief description outlining provenance and flavour profiles, such as: "All our mutton and lamb is from farmer Andrew Sharp's Herdwick flock. It is renowned for its distinctive taste and eating quality - a result of grazing heather and grasses of the Lake District fells. The meat is succulent, tender and tasty with a more gamey flavour."
Wine list: Seven whites, one rosé and eight reds. English varieties feature on a a separate page on the wine list. The offer includes Primrose Hill Lamberhurst Estate Bacchus 2006, Kent (£29); Chapel Down English rosé 2006, Kent (£29); Champagne: De Nauroy Brut NVChapel Down Brut NV, Kent (£25); Chapel Down rosé Brut NV (£45).
Standing out from the crowd
Just behind Hackney Empire,
the pub is a perfect stop for pre-theatre diners. Theatre-goers can also make a night of it in one of the pub's 10 bedrooms, featuring widescreen LCD TVs and wireless internet access.