William IV, Shoreditch

A good Sunday roast is an easy thing for any establishment to say they deliver, but often in reality can be a disappointment and leave a diner unsatisfied!! So a little while back we tried out lunch at the William IV pub in hipster Shoreditch – our friends said it did a fine one and I was eager to find out if it lived up to the hype. 

The William IV’s a nicely laid out pub, benefiting from a position on the corner of two roads, lots of windows keep the space bright and welcoming. A round of punchy Bloody Mary’s started lunch for some of us – birthday celebrations the day before being the cheeky culprit!

Bloody Mary

Sunday lunch offerings are short, but sweet – a couple of starters, roasts that cover all the main bases, a few sharing options and desserts to get your teeth into.

Whilst most of us eyed up the roasts, the other half was diverted off course and went for two sharing boards!! Oh, don’t worry this isn’t so much of a surprise to me, there are plenty of tales which have become folklore amongst our uni mates, where he’d order everything for himself because he couldn’t decide – the chip shop story has become stuff of legend, even finding a way into our mates wedding speech. 

Charcuterie board and cheese board

New season asparagus w/ poached eggs and hollandaise sauce

After a bit of a mess up with the order – my original choice being the sirloin of beef, I was brought chicken, however after clocking my eyes on the bird I was pleasantly surprised. Normally I’d get a bit irritated with a messed up order, but he was very apologetic and looked a little mortified at giving me it, saying he would happily bring out the beef. 

My verdict on the roast – it’s a cracking one on all counts; my plate had a generous amount of moist and juicy roast chicken, coming with crispy skin and lots of herbs. The greens still had bite, it’s iron-packed goodness still intact, and the all-important Yorkshire was crisp, light and a good size. The essentials like decent roast potatoes and veg were treated simply and cooked well, then finally to complete the plate a gravy boat full of the good stuff finishing the roasts off perfectly. 

Lemon and herb roast chicken

Roasts aside, the asparagus and sharing plates can be commended too – eggs poached to perfection, meat and cheese boards meeting the needs of the other half who worked his way steadily through both very satisfactorily! 

Whether it’s the best Sunday roast in Shoreditch is yet to be seen, but what I can say is it’s  a damn tasty one! William IV is a lovely neighbourhood pub and I can see why my friends love it there!!

William IV

7 Shepherdess Walk

London

N1 7QE

http://www.thewilliam.co.uk

Whitelock’s Ale House, Leeds

When you think of the pubs in Leeds, Whitelock’s is synonymous with the very best. The oldest public house in the city celebrated a 300th birthday this year, but certainly hasn’t rested on its laurels since being taken over by a new owner in 2012. This much-loved establishment has always been renowned for its history and a passion for championing real ales from local breweries, all served by very knowledge staff. However, Whitelock’s isn’t all about quality beverages, they’ve given plenty of attention to a food menu that suits the pub with classic, hearty dishes made using ingredients from local producers, in particular Kirkstall Market. 

With a new chef at the helm, there are starter and light bite plates like the Heirloom beetroot and Yorkshire fine fettle salad or the stunner of a chorizo dish, accompanied with peas and mint sitting on top of a crumpet. Large chunks of chorizo from award winning Lishman’s of Ilkley had a beautiful smokiness without being too intense, peas (and their pods) brought sweetness and a lovely soft crumpet all made for a real scrumptious starter.

As far as main courses go there are classics such as beer battered fish and chips, Lishman’s sausage and mash and the homemade beef and ale pie with chips and veg which was my choice, also a few regularly changing specials. Even though the pie wasn’t fully encased in pastry, all was forgiven as it was a comforting and delicious crowdpleaser. The pastry lid itself was perfect – golden, crisp and flaky, and not let down by the filling underneath of tender beef and rich gravy, laced with ale. Along with good chunky chips and seasonal veg it was a wholesome plate of damn tasty food!

Whitelock’s is definitely serving food to match the quality of its drinks, this can only be an amazing thing and simply reinforces that yes, it may be in its 300th year, however the place is still pushing itself and striving to be even better than it already is!!! 

Whitelocks Ale House

Turks Head Yard
Leeds
LS1 6HB

0113 2423368 / 0113 2453950

http://www.whitelocksleeds.com

Charterhouse Arms, Godalming

There are pros and cons to being down South, as much as I miss Leeds it does being much closer to people who we’ve not been able to see as often as we’d like, so for that it’s all good. A couple of Saturdays ago a catch-up was planned with relatives in Farncombe, for anyone who hasn’t heard of the place or know where it is, it’s basically a village in Surrey. We were crashing a 40th birthday party later that evening and were in need of a quick feed to line the stomach, readying ourselves for the inevitable. A local pub called the Charterhouse Arms in Godalming had been talked about as a stop-off for a bite to eat, once well known in the area for a being a decent boozer serving curries, but a few months ago the team behind the curries decided to move and open their own place elsewhere. It’s since taken on new management, undergone a makeover and brought in a new evening menu serving tapas. The pub’s found on the corner of a fairly busy road that runs along the edge of Godalming and knowing it was a popular spot, took up one of their outdoor tables  – perfect on what was a lovely sunny evening.

The menu offers a decent number of small tapas plates, ranging from £3.25 – £5.25, a couple of sharing platters, plenty for both carnivores and veg lovers. Orders were taken at the bar and after a reasonable length of time we were brought a steady stream of dishes.

NB: apologies for the quality of the photos – all taken on my iPhone.

Selection of cured meats, tortilla and braised pork cheeks

Gambas Pil

Crispy squid with aioli

Albondigas, patatas bravas and chorizo in red wine

Of the eight dishes my favourites were the seafood – think beautifully cooked prawns, all the better for being messy and juicy with loads of garlic and a little background heat from chilli. Also a generous portion of soft squid, lightly covered in a crisp batter with a large dollop of garlicky aioli to dunk them, the meaty, smokey chorizo was a bit of a winner and the patatas bravas were decent, but could’ve been a bit chunkier. For me, the other dishes were a little hit and miss and would’ve been helped along with more accurate seasoning – both the Spanish omelette and the pork cheek could’ve done with a pinch of salt, the omelette’s texture didn’t live up to others I’ve had and I wished the pork cheek had been left whole, so we could find out for ourselves how tender it was rather than being served already shredded up. A sauce would’ve brought it to life more too.

Overall I liked the Charterhouse Arms – the staff were lovely and we got really friendly service, the menu isn’t too pricey and the place has a relaxed setting. They’ve been open since June and even though it certainly wasn’t perfect, I’d go again and would love to see how it improves.

Charterhouse Arms

Deanery Rd

Godalming

GU7 2PQ

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Charterhouse-Arms/129686450415449

A Yorkshire Day Out

A couple of weekends ago we had the pleasure of spending some time with relatives who live in Australia, for the short time they had in the UK some day trips were planned to show them around the area. One of these trips was whistle-stop tour into the Dales, firstly popping to Betty’s for a quick cuppa and a buttered tea cake, where we got superb service throughout.

A quick saunter around Bolton Abbey; taking in the view for a few moments listening to sheep baa-ing away, watching the other half and his dad skim stones in the river, quietly walking through the priory ruins and its cemetery. There was even a wedding going on as we walked passed the Priory Church, nice little touch was the tractor, adorned with ribbons (I think, not too hot on farming equipment!)

With lunchtime was fast approaching, the plan was to make our way to The Craven Arms, in the lovely sounding village Appletreewick. My father-in law knows most of the Dales like the back of his hand, and has visited this charming pub many a time after long walks in the area. You could tell it was a popular pub early on, as we’d passed one down the road with hardly any one there, but this one had people spilling onto the street outside! A good sign, but could we get a table for seven?

After a few minutes of hunting around, a man and his partner very kindly offered up theirs as they weren’t eating, which we gratefully thanked them for. Initially thinking we couldn’t all fit around, with a little bit of budging up we managed it and decided on our lunch order. 

The menu is written up on black boards behind the bar with a number of family favourites, such as Yorkshire pudding with red onion gravy, beef burger and shepherds pie topped with cheesy mash potato. Great to see the chefs make use of their local produce, reading dishes using locally sourced partridge, lambs liver, grouse and mallard too. I also liked the sound of the items listed on the artisan deli menu: homemade cider flavoured black pudding, piccalilli, marmalade and chutneys. 

Food arrived in good time and were certainly hearty portions, I didn’t expect anything less being in the Dales. Mine especially looked massive (Jacksons pork sausages with mash)! It was so big I just couldn’t finish it, shame really as there were meaty sausages, smooth mash and decent gravy going to waste. Before I got too full I did manage to get a little taster of the other half’s steak and ale pie….extremely good, light, buttery pastry the meat was tender and fell apart, came with decent chips and a rich glossy gravy. That’ll be my choice the next time I visit! But saying that the fish and chips looked particularly handsome too. 

We were all pretty much full and needed to walk it off, so the last part of our whistle-stop tour was a stop in Grassington, straight up the Main Street, passed The Square and back around, it was a shame we were running out of time and could’ve spent a little longer absorbing the area more, but a lot had been planned into one day. From the response of our visitors, it seemed like the day had been a success, they got a taste of the Yorkshire Dales.

Lunch for seven people came to £97.10 with drinks.

Food: hearty, uses local produce, decent portions, filling.

Service: lovely staff who were friendly and helpful.

Atmosphere: it has a buzz about the place, filled with many locals and visitors.

The Craven Arms

Appletreewick

Nr.Skipton

N.Yorkshire

BD23 6DA

http://www.craven-cruckbarn.co.uk/index.htm

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The Atlas Pub, Leeds

My best mate and I were overdue a much needed night out, and a must as part of the evening is always to have some yummy food. I’d wanted to try out the Atlas Pub, which had replaced Create after reading some favourable things about the place. Wanting to see for myself we met there for drinks Saturday evening and decided to stay for a bite to eat. I remember the space from its Create days with the bright white interior and eye-popping coloured seating, while the interior Atlas has gone for looks a lot different with dark walls, bar and furniture making it have more character and warmth.

They have an unusual set up as it seemed the bar staff also double as the waiting staff, it appeared to work though and I found the lady who served us to be friendly and helpful. 

Food is ordered at the bar with a menu that’s comprises light bites and main courses. In terms of cost light bites ranged from £4.50 – £8.50 and main courses – £8.95 – £17.95. After a bit of research on their website it says they have a menu of ‘classic and modern dishes from around world’, a bold statement I thought as I’d wondered with such a range of cuisines would it be a case of Jack of all trades but master of none? To test this theory out I chose their Classic Paella and my friend the mussels dish, to accompany this a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to wash it down.

Now I’ve eaten paella loads of times and fully anticipate the cooking time for a decent one, so to our surprise it came within 10 minutes of ordering. It looked like it had all the constituents of a good paella, mussels, chorizo, prawns, saffron and rice but it was all swimming in quite a lot of liquid. 

On taste the individual flavours of the chorizo, prawns and mussels were there, but the dish was a little wishy washy and missed the depth of flavour you’d expect. The rice was cooked but didn’t have the right texture, a great paella has rice that has slowly absorbed moisture, and in turn developed a deep flavour.  For me I love all the additional ingredients like prawns etc, but it’s the rice that really does it for me!!! Sadly the rice lacked this depth, it was a real shame as I’d just wished they’d said it would take the desired amount of time and I would’ve happily waited.

My friends mussels dish came with a loaf of bread and even though the server was good enough to bring a finger bowl for my friend, I didn’t get one. As we didn’t have anywhere to put our mussel shells at first glance our lady was very quick and brought us an empty bowl for them, without any fuss. 

My friend seemed to enjoy her dish with the well cooked mussels, bacon and celery adding the desired flavour she seemed quite satisfied, using the fresh loaf to mop up the creamy mussel liquor with good effect. A quirky little surprise was seeing a half and half loaf when she cut off a slice!!

Overall we had a nice meal but for me there are issues with the concept of the menu. If I was to go back I’d probably stick to safer dishes, but I shouldn’t really need to should I?

Food: I’m not so sure about the menu trying to cover a lot of different cuisines. Food a little hit and miss.

Service: Friendly, helpful staff, not overly long waiting times, a few little niggly things with service that could be easily rectified.

Atmosphere: The place had a nice Saturday night buzz  and warmth to it.

Our meal cost £38 for two people – one course each with a bottle of wine.

The Atlas Pub

Atlas House

31 King St

Leeds

West Yorkshire

LS1 2HL

0113 244 2906 

http://atlaspubleeds.com

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