Sunday Roast @ The Charles Lamb

I’d wanted to eat at the Charles Lamb for years and I mean years, probably 3 or 4 at least, but with most things in my life things get changed always at the last minute.

Bad Sunday Roast @ The Cellars

I’ve never been a big fan of the Cellars, sitting on that lovely corner close to Newington Green. Perfect spot to sit outside and sup on a lovely cold pint as the sun slowly sets over another glorious day in Stoke Newington.

Sunday Roast @ The Flask in Hampstead

I’ve been meaning to write this for ages now, but with things happening at the end of last year, Christmas, New Year blah blah blah, it all got forgotten about. But finally here it is.

The Flask ticks all the boxes for a good Sunday Roast. It has the appearance of an old time boozer, how it was in yesteryear, even though the brewers gave the place a refurb a few years ago. They did a good job for it to keep its original character.

There’s a nice dining area out the back, which has a lot of space and is better for large groups to dine away. Which we were, and we did.

The ales on tap are a sight to behold. I’m a big fan of Young’s Bitters, so I was right at home here.

The staff are friendly, although some do look mighty young and not too bright neither, but we’ll forgive them as they did a good job of keeping us content, plus the chefs cooked a storm.

Yes, we were here for one thing only. A bloody good Sunday roast, and yes we got it. It’s a little on the pricey, but we are in Hampstead so you cannot expect much different.

It had been a while since my last roast, so I had to have the Roast Rump of Beef. A fine cooked piece of meat it was as well. Nice and pink, slightly drowned out by the nice gravy, but still good none the less. The veggies and tatties were well cooked and seasoned.

I never got to try the lamb, but it did look and smell a fine specimen indeed. But I did get to sample a lot of the Schweinehaxe. A roasted pork knuckle cooked in beer. A fine example of an unused piece of meat that, with a bit of love and care can become your star dish.

I really wished I’d have had this. Tasted heavenly, and with some fine crackling that actually crackled as you ate it. Delish. It reminded me of what you can get at Opa y Oma, a small family run restaurant in the countryside outside of Medellin. Ahh memories. 

I’m also reliable informed that their steak and ale pies are some of the best in London. This maybe worth coming back another time to see if the boast is true.

All in all it was a good Sunday roast with some fine ales, witty conversation and wittier, finer friends, but that is what Sunday roasts are all about.

Sunday Roast @ The Rose and Crown

After moving into our new flat in the lushness of Stoke Newington. Home to the highest concentration of baby strollers in London. Well, maybe a slight over exaggeration, but not by much.

The Rose and Crown isn’t the closest pub to our new gaff, but it was at the time, before we discovered the Londesborough and the Shakespeare. Which have now become firm favourites for different reasons.

When we want a nice quiet pint and some good nosh then the Londesborough fits the bill. The Shakespeare on the other hand is a good time old boozer with the best selection of bar snax on the planet. Nice juke box as well.

This given Sunday we actually tried to eat at the Three Crowns, but they were jammin’ and with no reservation it was a no go. So after a short stroll back up Church Street, we ended up at the first pub we walked past earlier on.

The Rose and Crown I could see at once was a local favourite. Everyone seemed to know everyone else, and we were made to feel very welcome by the staff and locals alike.

WE were enjoying the buzz of the pub, that we didn’t even mind waiting for a table to become free. So after a half pint wait we managed to get a table amongst a few lively tables, which always adds to the buzz of a place.

We were here for one thing and one thing only. Sunday Roast. Damn I was in need for one, as it had been a good while since my last one, and I couldn’t actually remember when my last one was. So we ordered a lamb and a beef between us. Both reasonable priced at less than a tenner each. Good value.

Both came piping hot and with the same veggies, roasties and yorkies. The green beans, carrots and broccoli were all cooked pretty damn well. Nicely seasoned, and still a tad al dente. Nice. The tatties were nice and crispy on the outside and floury on the inside. Always a good sign for a roast. The yorkies were as I was hoping they would be. Nicely risen with a good taste and texture. The gravy was well made with a nice a slightly thick consistency. Just how I like it.

The only let down was the roast beef. It really didn’t have as much flavour as I like, which was a shame as everything else was so damn good. The lamb was nice and fatty and had a great lamby flavour, that actually made we wish I had ordered it instead of the beef. Normally I do, but I wanted some roastie beef inside me.

I liked the vibe within the pub and it made up for any shortcomings of the beef, which was the only low point of a really good afternoon.

I now know what middle aged single female teachers do on a Sunday afternoon, when they have a batch of papers to mark. They sit in a pub with several glass of white wine and get their head down and tick, tick, tick. Although I wonder how well the marking was after the 3^rd glass of wine. Was she just ploughing through the final few with abandon or was she becoming more and more stricter. Something that most of the pub was wondering as well I am sure.

I enjoyed the afternoon here and I am sure that it will become a firm favourite as it is with a lot of local Stokies. 
Long live the local.