Published: 23 April, 2012
by TOM MOGGACH
IT?S a delicious bubble, Primrose Hill ? adrift from the everyday world. In this choicest of neighbourhoods, two pubs have long ruled the roost for their food.
The Engineer is classy and boasts the smarter crowd, although I prefer The Lansdowne for excellent pizzas (try the Turkish) and an imaginative seasonal menu chalked up daily on the blackboard.
Until now, The Princess of Wales had escaped this gastro-pub upgrade.
It felt like a boozer, not a restaurant, with real ales, real people and terrific jazz on a Sunday.
The food was unremarkable, but that was part of its down-to-earth charm.
So I shuddered when I heard of its revamp.
The decorators were in and a fancy chef was working on the menu. Will the last proper pub in Primrose Hill lose its soul?
The consultant chef, a talented chap called Carl Clarke, has done a brilliant job.
The menu is well written, full of things you want to eat.
Not too fancy, nor too dull.
The focus is on high quality British pub food made with well-sourced local ingredients.
Gooey fried brie, for example, is on the menu ? although the cheese now hails from Somerset.
There?s a burger, pie of the day, fish fingers, a Welsh rarebit and a ?rare breed roast? on Sundays, along with the jazz.
Breakfast is also available, and you can pick up a posh bacon or sausage bap for a couple of quid.
So far, so good. The drinks list, too, is decent: interesting wine, premium lager and cocktails such as a Gin Pimm?s or Rhubarb Royale.
Perhaps they?re missing a trick by not cranking up the real ale selection.
The interior, however, is far less coherent.
This pub always displayed a mishmash of brass plaques and knick-knacks. But now, in their re-styled incarnation, it starts to look a bit odd.
We ate downstairs, where cameo silhouette portraits adorn the walls.
Upstairs, past the chandeliers, two pairs of plinths prop open the door to a dining room lit by velvet-clad lamps.
The toilets are heavy with hunting scenes.
Our starter was excellent, one of the more off-piste dishes: tomatoes and courgettes roasted with a kick of chilli, cooled by goats? milk yoghurt and lent a chewy crunch by a sprinkle of spelt, a wheaty grain, ?5.95.
The pizzas are called ?stone-baked flat breads? and more oblong in shape.
Ours had a crisp base and was smothered in four molten British cheeses.
At ?8.50 it was both cheaper and larger than the Lansdowne?s ? you could happily share if feeling peckish. ?
There?s lots of meat, including a Beast of the Week. We chose their home-cured bacon chop, marinated in molasses, served with black pudding, a fried duck?s egg, chips and pickled apple, ?11.50.
?We call it a posh breakfast,? said the charming waiter Antonio.
Again, it was perfectly cooked.
A crowd-pleaser finished us off: a double chocolate and peanut butter brownie with salted caramel ice cream, ?4.95. Other puddings include a strawberry and lavender pavlova, treacle tart and British cheeses.
So the food is terrific, surprisingly so. You might not travel here solely for a meal, but The Princess of Wales is holding its own among stiff competition.
Princess of Wales
22 Chalcot Road, NW1
020 7722 0354
www.lovetheprincess.com
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