British love

Something I love about Britain is the pub culture. You have probably noticed this from my Chiswick pubs series reviewing The Old Packhorse,  The Bollo,  The Gunnersbury, The Pilot, The Lamb and Smokehouse. I, of course don’t just go to pubs in Chiswick.

One of my favourite pubs in London is The Black Lion on Kilburn high road.

The Black Lion
274 Kilburn High Road
London NW6 2BY
West Hampstead

The Black Lion pub is a beautiful old English pub steeped in history dating back to the Roman times. It has a friendly atmosphere and the service is really polite and upbeat, the people who work there seem like they really enjoy it. In the winter it even has open fires surrounded by couches where you can snuggle up with a winter warm drink.  I really love the atmospheric Victorian charm it has about it.

The food is delicious and what I would consider pretty reasonably priced. The quality and freshness of the food is second to none and I have never had anything I didn’t like.

I usually opt for the Tapas menu where you can get 4 plates for £14. This way I get to taste a lot of different flavours and its great way to share food with friends.

Looking over the Tapas menu now I realise I have tired most of the dishes on there!

Some of my favourites are

Italian style mixed olives

Fresh pitta break & homemade hummus

Toasted bruschetta with tomato, onions & cucumber

Deep fried calamari and hand cut triple cooked chips

Trio of sliders, chicken, pulled pork and beef

They also have great Sunday roast options. Beef, Chicken, Lamb, Pork belly and vegetarian Wellington. The biggest range of roasts I’ve seen in pub.

I have tried the Lamb

and the ½ corn feed chicken

Both were very good. The Yorkshire puddings were the best I think I have ever had. The veggies were so so but with the gravy were very tasty. The meat (both the lamb and chicken) was tender and full of flavour. Exactly how you want a Sunday roast to be. It is literally drenched in gravy though so if you aren’t a big fan make sure to request yours on the side.

I actually haven’t ever had the A La Carte menu but they seem to have a good range of starters, mains and desserts in a very traditional English pub style. I can’t see them not being as good as the tapas or Sunday roasts so I look forward to trying some of the dishes one day…especially the chocolate brownie!

The Black lion is also a lovely place to just go for a drink. They do some really great cocktails and of course they have lots of beers and wines.

There is nothing about the Black Lion I don't like so go check it out and let me know what you guys think.

Chiswick pub eats Part 4

By now you are probably thinking, how many pubs are there in Chiswick! The answer…a hell of a lot *smiles*

Next stop, The Lamb.

The Lamb is another one of Chiswick pubs which is on the high road and is full of character, seasonal pub food, craft beer and that old time charm.

We headed over to the Lamb recently for Mitchell’s Birthday and it was an experience. The service was lacking compared to the other pubs in Chiswick. They only had one poor girl on the bar who was serving drinks and taking the food orders and serving the tables! This was at 1300 on Tuesday, prime lunch time so this seemed pretty odd. She eventually got some help about 40 minutes after we arrived but for that 40 minutes she was pretty run off her feet with some annoyed patrons who had been waiting a fairly long time.

The food was a little hit and miss as well. Some dishes were really good, some were average and some pretty disappointing.

A few of the guys got the burgers and the patty in the burger left a lot to be desired but the other ingredients (salads, sauces, cheese, buns) made it ok. A bit of a let down as the burgers in the other pubs have been pretty great. There was a few salads which were ok and they had a good vegetarian option for my colleague Christian, Quinoa, couscous & black lentils with radish, asparagus, heritage carrots & omega seeds.

The starters did get good reviews. Between the team we had the Five chargrilled smoked chicken wings, ginger ale ketchup Pan-fried chorizo with sourdough bread, the handmade scotch egg with HP sauce and Whitebait, tartar sauce & lemon.

I had the Salt & pepper squid, spicy mayonnaise as my starter. It was really good. A nice light batter and the sauce had a little kick which was nice.

For my main I had the Southern-fried chicken with fries, summer slaw & house pickle dip which was also another lucky pick as it was one of the nicer main meals that came out.  I liked the presentation in the wire tray and the chicken itself was really tasty. The coleslaw was way over dressed though and a little sickly so I left that.

On top of that I got the sweet potato fries because I have a weird obsession with them and thankfully they were really good. I would have been thoroughly disappointed if they were bad. In fact I would go back to the Lamb just for drinks and the sweet potato fries.

Overall my food experience was pretty good but for some of my colleagues not so much. The service was pretty bad for everyone but the pub itself is a nice one. We sat in the beer garden and it was a sunny day which made it lovely out there.

It’s a bit sad the service took about from the experience but maybe we just caught them on a bad day where they had some staff of sick or something so I won’t hold it against them and will definitely head back.

Go and check it out if you’re keen

The Lamb
9 Barley Mow Passage
London
W4 4PH

My only advice stay away from the burgers because you can get a lot better from the other pubs and if they looked understaffed maybe head to one of the other pubs which are all less than 10 minutes away.

The Old Packhorse

The thing I love about London eateries is that you can often find some amazing eats in the most unlikely of places. Who would have thought you would get really great Thai food in the back of an old English pub…introducing The Old Pack Horse.

 

 

This was a great shout from a friend for lunch today and as always it hit the spot and did not disappoint!

 

It has to be some of the best Thai food I have had in London. The food is authentic Thai dishes, freshly prepared to order. It’s a step above the standard pub food and is a local favourite for those who live and work in Chiswick. 

 

My two favourite dishes are

 

PAD SIEW (with chicken, beef or Prawns)
Stir fried thick noodles with soy sauce, egg, cabbage, carrot & spring green

 

 

KHAO PAD (with chicken, beef or Prawns)
Stir fried steamed rice with egg, soy sauce, onion, spring onion & green vegetables

 

And you can not go past the spicy pack horse prawn crackers…soooo good.

 

 

It’s always high quality and so tasty, not to mention the staff are really friendly which is always a plus.

Oh and I mustn't forget if you are a fan of ales they are well known for their cask ales!

 

So check it out and I can guarantee you, you will not be disappointed.

 

The Old Pack Horse
434 High Road
Chiswick
London
W4 5TF