One of the greats

When I heard there was a place in London who not only had consistently been one of the greats for years but also had an eclectic, somewhat eccentric décor both inside and out I knew I had to check it out. Which place am I talking about I hear you saying…none other than the Churchill arms in Notting hill.
 
The Churchill Arms
119 Kensington Church St
London
W8 7LN

The first thing you will notice coming up to pub is the amazing front. It is covered from top to bottom in various potted plants, which apparently in summer flower making it look amazing.

(photo credit https://littlelondonobservationist.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/churchill-arms-pub-london/)

I will have to go back in the summer…any excuse really.

Inside the Churchill Arms it is divided into two halves. At the front is the pub and the back is the restaurant. The pub still gives you that old English pub charm despite every nook and cranny being covered in every conceivable piece of Winston Churchill memorabilia.

You would never believe that this pub coated in flowers and foliage and filled with all this stuff would be home to a beautiful Thai Restaurant. Apparently 20-30 years ago the ‘in thing’ in London was pubs serving Thai food. There aren’t too many survivors of this trend. I have mentioned one before in my blog post The Old Packhorse and now I can safely add The Churchill arms to the list and I can see why it has survived.

The menu is small but what it does, it does well! There was five of us who went so we got to try a fair few dishes and all the food was excellent.

We had
Spicy prawn crackers and spring rolls to start

Then for mains
Pad Siew with beef
Noodles fried with soya sauce, egg, peas, mixed vegetables and bean sprouts.

Kaeng Kiew Waan with chicken
A traditional Thai green curry made from fresh green chilli and Thai herbs cooked in coconut milk with bamboo shoots, peas, red and green peppers.

Kaeng Panang with chicken
A spicy red curry made of dried red chili with coconut milk, Thai lime leaves, red and green peppers.

One Rad Na with mixed meat and one Rad Na with vegetables
Fried thick noodles with mixed green vegetables, red and green peppers topped with corn starch gravy.

The food was not only tasty but it was really reasonably priced, especially considering the size of the dishes, as you can see they were huge.

The only downside, if I can even call it that, is that so many people have cottoned on to how good the Churchill is so is gets extremely crowed. My advice make a booking, preferably a few days in advance as it fills up quick! That can only be a good sign right?

I can see why they are one of the greats but don't just trust me listen to critics. The Churchill Arms has won the Boozers on Bloom award, the Fuller's coveted Griffin Award three times and the Stella's "Love Your Local" award.

So you have no excuse not to check this place out.

Aroi mak mak
(its very delicious)

Chiswick pub eats Part 5

Hitting the next instalment of Chiswick pub eats, the Smokehouse.

Smokehouse
12 Sutton Lane North
Chiswick
London
W4 4LD

First thing to note is that this is a review of the Smokehouse lunch time menu because it is a completely different menu at dinner which I have yet to try out.
*Note to self to put that on my foodie bucket list.

The smoke house isn’t only new to me, it’s new to the area. The pub/restaurant opened in April 2015 on the site of what used to be a local favourite, the Hole in the Wall pub. This is the second Smokehouse in London, with the original being in Islington. They are both run by famous BBQ chef Neil Rankin who use to be the head chef of one of my favourites, Pitt Cue!

With a name like Smokehouse you don’t have to guess what it’s all about, grilling and smoking, whether its meat, fish or vegetables. It’s not your typical pub food in any sense of it. Rankin uses his creativity and background in the classics to bring a twist to the traditions of fire-based cooking.

I’ve been twice so far. The first time I had the Smokehouse Pulled lamb BBQ wrap.

It was crazy filling, I got through half and couldn’t fit in any more. A fair few of my male friends were in the same boat. We ended up taking back leftovers as the taste and flavours were too good to let them go to waste.

The second time I went I got the Longhorn Limousine cow burger with Korean pulled pork.

The burger comes with a super tasty meat patty topped with Korean pulled pork served with a spicy tomato salsa that has a real kick to it. Really tasty

I also tried the Caramel potatoes 

Now these were a bit of a trip. I enjoyed trying them but not sure I’d get them again. The potato was cooked to perfection and then covered in a caramel toffee sauce. As the potatoes cooled though the caramel got pretty hard which wasn’t great. No one really wants to wrestle with their potatoes!

Other people in our group got the

Smokehouse Pulled pork BBQ wraps

Smokehouse Coal baked aubergine BBQ wraps

And one of the more interesting things on the menu the Buffalo ribwich; slow roasted pork belly, spicy buffalo sauce & blue cheese mayo.

I may have to try this the next time I go…if I’m feeling adventurous.

The service was really lovely, friendly and efficient and the staff were a good help when needing drink suggestions. They offer 10 beers on tap, 60 in the bottle and source wine from small family owned vineyards only. The place has warm atmosphere and I loved enjoying the sunshine while we ate out on the terrace.
 
The Smokehouse is a great addition to the dining options in Chiswick. The prices are a bit higher than the other pubs I’ve reviewed in Chiswick but if you want something a bit different The Smokehouse is the place to go.

 

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