Sunday Roast and other meals and drinks @ The Jolly Butchers

The Jolly Butchers is a really cool, funky pub on Kingsland High Street. It follows the normal gastro pub rules. Wooden floors, wooden tables, mismatched wooden chairs, menu written on a blackboard. But this is a special place, a special place indeed.

It is really the Londesborough and the Shakespeare all rolled into one. It has the social vibe and the beers of the latter and the food of the former. It’s basically pub heaven.

We’ve been here several times now, and it just gets better and better with each passing.

But the real reason I come is for the mad selection of beers they have. I reckon the selection is worth about 3 normal pubs. A lot of them are London brewed, but there are many that are imported and on draught. A very happy man I am.

The Hell’s Lager made by the Camden Town Brewery seems to be my beer of choice at the mo. It has a slight yellow haze about it, and the flavour comes across as slightly flowery. A perfect summer beer.

The food is bloody good as well. The portions are a little on the generous side, but the taste is great. A recent visit on a Sunday afternoon proved that this is one of the best roasts in Stokie. Damn am I calling it that already. Shit.

Both the beef and pork were both really good. Although it’s not quite in the same league as the Londesborough when it comes to a roast, but the vibe in the place makes up for any shortcomings on the food.

It does seem to be a thing of Stoke Newington that the pubs all seem to serve a burger on a wooden board with a knife stuck in the top or is this a general trend I am missing. I’m not complaining but I’ve only encountered it here, or am I not eating enough burgers in pubs these days. Could be.

The only criticism I have of the place is that on a Friday or Saturday night there are not enough chairs to go around, as everyone wants to sit outside, leaving a lack of chairs inside. That’s it. Nothing more.

If you are in north London and seem to find yourself in Dalston or Stoke Newington and are in need of some liquid refreshment and a bit of grub, or a lot of it as it tends to be. Then head to the Jolly Butchers. You cannot miss it, it’s the crowded place on the corner, with the happy smiley people outside with the tattoos.