The Lark in the Park, Islington

I've been trying to figure out whether the Lark in the Park is still open. The number here goes through to someone who's never heard of them and their website has been taken over by their chef, so I'm guessing it's died a death.

Knowing London, it's probably been turned in to apartments.

8 Dec 2009 11:52

The Landseer, Holloway

I had been avoiding this pub for a while after the change in management a year or two back, but they've really upped their game lately and this is quickly becoming my favourite pub in the area once again.

From the meals I've tried recently I'd say that they chucked the poncey chef they started off with and are getting back to simpler ideas with high-quality ingredients. The Sunday roast is superb - I certainly wouldn't be ashamed to serve that on my own dinner table.

There are a few ales on tap and the wine selection is excellent. The massive amount of seating means you're never starved for space and the big leather sofas make for a lovely afternoon reading the paper. Children are welcome, which makes a change, and is especially welcomed by local families as there's a play area in the small park opposite the pub.

On sunny days the indoors seems to be relatively child-free and they're all gone by the evening.

Staff are friendly and helpful and have gotten in to their stride - food is served quickly without error. Though they do occasionally forget the knives and forks.

There are board-games on offer and enough big tables to play them on.

Actually, why am I telling you all this? You might all go there and spoil the lovely, relaxed atmosphere.

Best pub in the area by a big stretch.

23 Sep 2008 14:19

The Landseer, Holloway

I've been going to the Landseer on and off for about four years. It has, up until my last visit, always been excellent. Of course, all good things come to an end. What was great pub with good wine, freindly staff and great food has gone to the dogs.

I organised a meeting there as it was one of my favourite pubs. Given this was my only night in the country for some time, I wanted somewhere worth going to. I was horribly disappointed.

Between six of us who ate, three orders were wrong. One had the vegetable dish just missing, and so was actually just a bowl of cocktail sausages. One was missing entirely. Another was brought as a main course when it was supposed to be a starter.

My starter (and the only thing I got to eat), thai crab cakes in broth, was appalingly bad. It looked awful (imagine a meat-pie floater, but sort of washed out and less substantial) and was incredibly bland, save for the sesame seeds which dominated the flavour to such a degree that I couldn't taste any crab. There was some sort of green mulch under the crab cakes which turned out to be lime leaves. It looked more akin to spinach.

The clam chowder was watery and close to flavourless. The chef tried the same trick (as with the crab cakes) of making it look fancy by putting all the solid stuff in a circle in the middle and then filling the rest of the bowl with a thin broth. Unfortunately, the broth looks like dish-water and doesn't taste much different. Clam Chowder is a soup, dammit, not a pile of potatoes and clams in the middle of a pool of dishwater.

Deserts weren't bad, but their names were badly misleading - the chocolate fondant, for example, turned out to be an american style muffin. Plus, it was burnt on the bottom.

For such a great place to fall so low is a crying shame.

24 Oct 2006 10:37