The Marquess Tavern, Canonbury

Having never been a fan of 'pub grub' I was more than a little aprehensive when my lovely other half told me we were off to The Marquess Tavern for Sunday lunch. Well what a lovely surprise I had! Walking down a leafy canonbury road I was greeted by the imposing site of The Marquess, a tall whitewashed Victorian building with happy punters sitting laughing and drinking outside. On entering the building we were welcomed with a big smile from the (rather dishy!) barman and opted to have a drink in the bar area before being shown to our table. I had a fabulous cherry beer and the boy went with a coffee (!) beer. Both were fabulous (if a tad expensive). We were then shown through to the dining room for lunch. Lovely dining room, whitewashed walls, high ceilings, ornate mirrors, fresh flowers in quirky enamel bread/flour tins. The menu was extensive and there were many things that I would have happily tried but having heard such good things about the award winning Roast beef I couldnt even think about ordering anything else! So the beef it was, an enormous forerib for two with all the trimmings. Light crispy yorkshire puddings, (so good I cheekily asked for more, which I got, much to the disdain of the table next to us!!)great roasties and fab gravy (though not quite as good as my Mothers!!)Wasnt too keen on the greens that came with it (no broccoli!) but with everything else being so delicious who cares about greens? The only gripe was the 50 minute wait, however we were warned and it was our own silly fault for not ordering starters. Saying that, Im glad that we didnt as there was SO MUCH BEEF!! The boy is a rugby player and has a BIG appetite and Ive never shied away from a big meal but even we couldnt finish it!! Our lovely waitress was a sweetie and wrapped up what was left for us to take home!! A couple more beers from the frankly HUGE beer list and a s-l-o-w walk home completed a thouroughly lovely Sunday afternoon.
I couldnt recomend this place more. Lovely knowledgeable staff, fab food, great drinks and a laid back atmosphere. I cant fathom why this gem of a pub has ever received bad reviews, Im glad i didnt pay heed to them. The Marquess can now count me as a very happy, very satisfied (very full!) customer.

30 Apr 2007 17:25