It is always a pleasure paying a visit to the Duke of Cambridge, one of the first gastropubs to visit at the beginning of the journey, some 8 years ago, and still one of my favourites – although to be frank I always find it very difficult to choose which ones are my favourites…anyway back to the review.
The pub is hidden away in the beautiful terraced streets of Islington and away from the noisy and bustling Upper Street. It is always buzzy in the bar area which most people prefer to have their meal at – this is the first time I have used the dining area and that’s because I had to make sure we got a table as it was a birthday celebration.
It was a Sunday afternoon when we got there to celebrate my brother’s birthday, he recently moved back to London and although I had plans to fly to Portugal on Saturday I changed it for Sunday evening to be here for his birthday (aww…). The place was packed at the bar area and it looked like they were expecting a large party at the dining room.
Although I never used to go three courses for Sunday lunch, since I started visiting places for the blog I feel I am duty bound to have three courses which clearly is not great for my waistline as I am regularly being reminded by K! (Thankfully I have been going Psycling twice a week and for a run the weekends so I am currently making it through by the skin of my teeth!).
There are so many things I love about the Duke, the atmosphere, the FOOD but also the ethical attitude of the business, which is now the only certified organic gastropub in Britain. The pub doesn’t have printed menus but there are two blackboards (I know that’s quite common and not unique to an organic pub) one at the bar one at the dining room, and you just have to walk up to the board and stand there till you decide – or just take a photo now that we all have smartphones.
My brother had already got himself a premium organic larger from Stroud Brewery whilst he was waiting for me and M-C, and I ordered something new, an Atlantic Fistral Brewery Blond Ale, which was pretty good – I always like trying new ales, especially when I am outside London when you get all the small local breweries.
I ordered the potted pork to start – which was delicious although I could have done with a little bit more chutney…
At the Duke you always know that your meal will be as fresh as it gets, as the menu gets amended during the service as the fresh produce runs out. My brother wanted the buffalo mozzarella with roast cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives (so Greek!) and leaves but as they run out of mozzarella he chose ricotta instead.
As it was Sunday the roast was a must, M-C and I went for the pork shoulder and my brother went for the lamb. Both looked and tasted delicious although I felt short-changed with the crackling…
Since it was a celebration, and I was later flying with Ryanair (…) to Portugal and had to be fed properly to last till the evening, pudding was a must. We ordered two puddings to share, a lemon posset with fresh berries and a fig amaretto slice with crème fraiche. Followed by a glass of port to warm me up for Portugal…
The Duke is definitely a pub worth a visit(s) whether it be just for beer or beers and a meal. I have been many times and I have never been let down by the Duke in any respect, food, drink, atmosphere…
I may be sounding like a broken record as I have yet to give a bad review but I am afraid the places that I visit for, and list on, the blog are a result of desktop research and are somewhat vetted before I even get there. Like most of us, I do not enjoy the experience of a bad meal and I do some decent research before I get there. Also I’d rather provide you with places that are worth going rather than help you avoid the ones that are not…let’s be honest 9 out of 10 times we only have bad food experiences when we did not plan it and we cannot get a table at the decent places! As my advocacy tutor used to say at the Bar course everything in life is about preparation, preparation and even more preparation so why treat your meals any different?
30 St Peter’s St, Greater London N1 8JT
T: 020 7359 3066
GastroGreek 