Prince Arthur

Here's a neat idea for the person with four pubs to promote: a multi-venue cardboard coaster. Each side is divided into two semi-circles, so you can put a logo and address for each pub on each section. Then you buy a fifth pub. Doh! Coaster crisis.

But while the Prince Arthur loyally promotes the stable of excellent gastropubs it joins - Tom and Ed Martin's Empress of India, The Gun in Docklands, The Well in Clerkenwell and the White Swan in the City - it's no afterthought; they first committed to this London Fields site back in 2003. The refurbishment is sensitive and tasteful, with great use of anaglypta wallcoverings (that pressed, textured stuff that one is usually keen to get rid of when redecorating) and period Victorian colours. On the walls are stuffed fox heads and pheasants, and a series of portraits of Prince Arthur (Queen Victoria's third and favourite son) showing some serious 'tache and sideburn cultivation.

The small, simple bar is reminiscent of the entrance to The Gun - minus the formal linens and rooms leading out to the river. On our visit, some locals were happily ensconced, enjoying family meals, while others nervously ordered a pint of Magners and refused to read the menu. Their loss. This is a dream pub with simple British cooking of the kind most people would love on their doorstep.

To drink, there's Deuchars IPA, London Pride, and Meantime Helles (a light, German-style beer brewed in Greenwich) on tap, plus a good selection of wines, over half of which are under £30 a bottle. A longish blackboard bar menu offers gigantic corn kernels, pistachios, olives, and green chillies stuffed with feta, while weekends see the pub doubling as a posh café, serving full English breakfasts, eggs Benedict and the like.

For lunch (weekends only) and dinner, chef Tim Francis, previously of 30 St Mary Axe at the top of the Gherkin, flys the British flag with classic dishes such as Lancashire hotpot and braised red cabbage. Flavours and textures are good but the presentation is something to divide opinion: a hearty stew in a white porcelain soup bowl? Similarly a pie of chicken, ceps and blue Wensleydale cheese came in an eared porcelain dish - and was disappointingly single crusted, with the cheese sauce dominating. The chips were a bit greasy, too.

Still, the fryer was used to good effect when it came to the dessert: London Fields' answer to the deep-fried Mars Bar - a deep-fried, triple-layered jam sandwich with 'plum chutney' and ice cream made with Carnation milk. The waitress warned us that this heavenly parcel would probably cause our blood to stop circulating, and the portion was big enough for two, maybe even three if you're not greedy.

Unfortunately, our huge jam sandwich just emphasised the diminutive scale of our other dessert - afterall, no one wants a small spotted dick.

Bright, cheerful staff also proved themselves to be attentive and caring when one customer struggled at the door with her pram. Looks like the Prince Arthur will fit into this neighbourhood nicely, even if some of the locals are still a bit wary.
Jenni Muir

Time Out London Issue 1946: December 5-11 2007

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Latest user reviews

I was amazed to discover such a fantastic place hidden away in Hackney, and just minutes from my door. Each item on the menu enticed me, the worst thing was having to decide which to have! The service was friendly and informed, (I have never heard of a cep before, mushroom I now know), and the...
Anonymous  Dec 30 2007