Bars & Pubs

The Eagle’s renown as birthplace of the modern gastropub movement seems to have resulted in an influx of tourists. Aside from the nearby Holiday Inn, this stretch of Farringdon Road is a curious destination for travellers, though they won’t find a finer view of an NCP carpark anywhere in London. While a staff member is likely to allocate you a table, the service all but stops there. For drinks and food you need to order and pay at the bar, which also houses the open kitchen. Here, black-shirted cooks throw the likes of sardines, gilt-head bream and bruschetta on the chargrill. The blackboard menu is not well balanced in the three-course sense. There was a list of possible tapas (chicken wings, speck and melon, olives, chicken liver pâté), yet gazpacho soup and beetroot and feta salads seemed to be classified as main courses – once we saw the large servings we understood why. We couldn’t fault the sourcing of peppery napoli sausages, barbecued and served on American-style home-baked beans, though the charred string binding them was an off-putting garnish. Draught beers included Kirin, Leffe, Eagle IPA (natch) and Bombardier, but on a hot evening we opted for chilled Fleurie.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008