Sunday Roast @ The Albion

Having lived within a 5 minute walk of the Albion for over 6 months, we ate and drank there on more than a few occasions, but somehow the Sunday lunch there never came to pass. Either because we forgot to book, or we just turned up on the off chance that they would let us in. They never did. It’s always fully booked on a Sunday.

Our last attempt to eat there was a few weeks ago, again on a whim as we were wandering around trying to decide where to eat. We ended up at The Bull. Read below for how a disappointing lunch that was.

So this time we made sure we booked. They seem to have 2 sittings, one at 12pm and the other at 2.30pm. Noon was way too early, as who knows how bad these hangovers are these days. Seems to be an age thing, the older I get the worse they are. So a 2.30 reservation was made.

We arrived a tad early, so we grabbed a couple of beers and wandered outside to take in a bit of sunshine. It’s amazing how many Americans there were sitting outside. I actually felt like I was a foreigner here. Most of them were talking a lot of shit, but kids these days the world over normally do. Am I getting old?

We wandered through to the rear garden, as it was a sunny day, the inside dinning room was empty and everyone was being seated outside. Glorious sunny day it was. The garden was packed with lots of groups of friends. Thankfully no screaming babies here. They seemed to be frowned upon these days, well by me they are.

The menu at the Albion is short and sweet. More or less about 6 starters, 7 mains and with about 6 puddings. All sounded great. I would have preferred to have the lamb, but it was for 3 or 4 people. Shamefully my wife cannot eat for 2 anymore.

So glad I am not a veggie, as the option of a baked potato with creamed spring mushrooms was a tad not appetising. But who cares, I’m not and cannot see it happening.

We shared some Dorset crab on toast, which had one side full of white meat and the other side brown meat. It was juicy and with a squeeze of lemon made it perfectly acidic. It’s amazing just how different the white and brown meats are on a crab. Gorgeous. Boy I’ve missed simple pleasures like this.

The mains, I had to have the Rare Roast Beef and Yorkie. Lina went for the Slow Roasted Pork Belly. All these come with the trimmings as they say. Sautéed spring greens, Chanterelle carrots and roast potatoes. Now I’m not mad, no matter what Lina says, but a roast has to contain at least three good sized roasties. Here we had four. Excellent. They were crispy as well with great texture and taste, how a roast tattie should be.

My roast beef was rare and juicy, the great gravy was a little over powering it, but apart from that it was fantastic. I think they gave me the biggest yorkie ever created, as it took up half the plate. Love it. The only thing missing was the horseradish. I should have asked for some but as we were in a far corner it was a little difficult to catch someone’s eye. Hey ho.

Lina’s pork belly came rolled and was really meltingly tender. The apple sauce was tart and married well with the fattiness of the pork belly. Good sized portion again.

Unfortunately with the sun beating down on us, we gave the puddings a miss, and opted for two espressos to wake us up a bit. Lunchtime drinking in the sun always makes me sleepy.

I have to say that the Sunday roast here is as good as it gets. A couple of minor flaws but nothing to worry about. It’s nigh on perfect. They used good ingredients and cooked more or less to perfection. I loved it. This is going to be a hard act to follow.

The only thing missing was a few friends to share it with. Next time.