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.

Chiswick pub eats Part 3

The Pilot is our next stop on my ‘eat my way around the Chiswick pubs’ tour *cheeky smiles*

The Pilot is about a five minute walk from Gunnersbury station and is another great pub in the area. The staff are really friendly and again they serve seasonal food and have great cask ales and continental lagers.

The menu is similar to the JB or the Bollo, being pub favourites and also a few more adventurous options. Another cool thing about the pilot is that they have your tradition English bar snacks: pork scratching’s, scotch eggs etc. which a fair few of the pubs claiming to be old English pubs don’t.

I went to the Pilot recently for one of my friends birthday lunches but I have been there a fair few times before, including two work Christmas parties. They have a great private hire area called the garden room at the end of the beer garden that gives total privacy but still makes you feel like you’re getting the pub/party atmosphere. The food at both parties, one a sit down dinner and one a buffet style was really good quality and very tasty.

At the recent trip for Andy’s birthday, most people ordered of the al e cart menu or got the BBQ. That is another cool thing the pilot does in summer. They have a BBQ menu which is three piece of meat from the BBQ (which the cook in the beef garden) and as much salad as you can eat for £11. That’s a pretty good deal for the Chiswick area!

I wasn’t particularly in the mood for BBQ the day of Andy’s birthday so instead I opted for a goat’s cheese pesto pasta with baby spinach.

You could tell the pasta had been freshly made and although it looks like a bit of a small serving it was very filling and really tasty (if you like goats cheese of course). The pesto had a really nice distinct taste as well. All round a great meal where all the different ingredients worked so well together.

A good friend of mine also opted for a veggie option and got the grilled halloumi, asparagus, pumpkin and olive salad which I got to try a bit of and was also really tasty.

Just goes to show you don’t always need meat to make a tasty filling meal!
I can hear the guys from my work whole heartedly disagreeing with this statement *smiles* and I will admit I have also tried the pie of the week and the homemade fish goujon bap in the past and they were also both really tasty.

Like the Bollo, it’s again the scratch made and fresh seasonal components that make these pub meals a step above your normal pub eats.

For another great pub meal go and check it out

The Pilot
56 Wellesley Rd
Chiswick
London
W4 4BZ

Chiswick pub eats Part 2

Time for the second or is it the third instalment of Chiswick pub eats.
First review was of The Old Packhorse
Second was The Bollo
and the third is

The Gunnersbury
590 Chiswick High Rd
London
W4 5RP

The Gunnersbury, known to the boys at work as the JB as it used to be called The John Bull, is a Chiswick institution. It is handily located directly opposite Gunnersbury underground station. The food there is traditional good quality pub eats with a few quirky speciality burgers and dishes to offer something new to the table.

Like most Chiswick pubs they also offer a wide range of cask ales with London Pride being the favourite. There are normally a minimum of two local ales as well and they change their selection regularly so you get to enjoy a variety of brews.

As always though for me, it is all about the food and when we went recently I decided to try one of the boys favourites…no not the chilli dog which at least 2-3 of them order every time  we go *smiles* but one of the specialty burgers.

Goats cheese and chutney

I have never had goats cheese on a burger and it was a pleasant surprise. The burger patty was really, really good and the mix of the melty goats cheese and the burger was delicious. The wedges were really scrumy to.

I've also had a few of there salads, the baby leaf salad with warm grilled chicken breast, feta cheese, avocado & bacon and the baby leaf salad with avocado, tomato, boiled egg & mozzarella cheese which were really good. It was pretty different to what I got from the Bollo so I can't really compare them, they were both really good.

If you're in the area go and check them out and let me know which one you guys prefer *smiles*