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Duke of Cambridge
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RUNNER-UP - BEST SUSTAINABLE RESTAURANT
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The UK’s first certified organic gastropub chalks up the long list of worthy goals it has achieved on a blackboard, including the buying of phones from a cooperative (go figure). The Duke is also a very appealing pub, with great beers from Pitfield Brewery, an attractive open room and a friendly mix of green-thinking folk (from dreadlocked cyclists to City suits). As a culinary destination, though, it has some way to go. First: the pricing. When food is this local and seasonal, why so expensive? Mackerel with a stew of black bean, chorizo and tapenade cost a hefty £14.50. Second: too many ingredients recur from dish to dish; on our visit, rocket and beetroot appeared regularly. Most disappointingly: the cooking is amateurish. It is easy to make a decent dhal, but this version contained chunks of carrot and crude spicing; served with brown basmati rice, it was the sort of ballast students might cook at home, not what you’d pay £11 for in a pub. A great place for a beer, but you need more than ethics to run a good kitchen.
Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009
Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.
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Details
- 30 St Peter's Street, Islington, N1 8JT
- Area: Islington
- Tel: 020 7359 3066
- www.dukeorganic.co.uk
- Category: Gastropubs
- Travel: Angel tube
- Times: Open noon-11pm Mon-Sat; noon-10.30pm Sun. Lunch served 12.30-3pm Mon-Fri; 12.30-3.30pm Sat, Sun. Dinner served 6.30-10.30pm Mon-Sat; 6.30-10pm Sun
- Price: Main courses £10-£18
- Credit cards: MC, V
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The pub itself is great, I really appreciate their eco friendly ethos. It's got some good ales on tap and a pleasant atmosphere.
However, I've been less than impressed with the food lately and begun to think that it relies far too heavily on it's 'all organic' tag. The food is overpriced for what you get.
Last night I ordered a duck dish with an oriental lean. I was thoroughly disappointed when it arrived, especially considering it cost nearly £20. It was bland, the duck was overcooked the vegetables undercooked. In fact it was marginally better than a take-away. The kitchen was closing which the staff made abundantly clear through being quite abrupt when taking my order. I honestly would have preferred if they just told me the kitchen was already closed.
No matter, plenty of other good places to eat locally.
Somewhere you really want to like with its committment to organic food and drink, but the prices here are a bit ridiculous. £18.50 for what was only an average roast pork on a Sunday is completely OTT. The dark lager was excellent, so somewhere I'd return to for a beer, but skip the food.
Smug. Bland. And ridiculous. I went here for a friend's birthday on Friday and one of our party had baked a special birthday cake. But when they tried to bring it into the pub, they were barred. The reason was that as an organic pub, no non-organic food could be consumed on the premises (due to their organic certification).
We countered that saying the cake hadn't been made in the pub kitchens, hadn't been sold by the pub and that their kitchen was closed anyway. But no.
We then asked if we could at least cut the cake and sing happy birthday inside. But again no, non-organic food could not be cut or sung over on the premises. In the end, we had to go outside and serve the cake in the freezing cold and rain. Nice.
Otherwise, the service was surly, the food overpriced, the atmosphere ordinary and the cider terrible.
If you want a good pub that serves organic ales, go to the Charles Lamb down the road.