Friday 28 May 2010

The Albion Pub

It was a Sunday and we had nowhere to be. I love that feeling. We donned our coats and put on our wellies (read converse trainers and some kind of girls shoe) and headed out into the Big Smoke. Where to go? Hmm, it was reasonably sunny. "Let's walk to Angel" I said. "OK" was the surprisingly keen reply from PJ (its a fair old way). So we did.

I had once been to a cracking little pub in Banbury in Islington. I forgot its name but after a quick iPhone Google job, we found it. The Albion.

Looking at their website, this place is much acclaimed with several awards from The Observer, The Independent and The Guardian with awards including "Best Sunday Lunch" no less.

We sat in their big garden (great for al fresco drinking) and watched a table of 20 cheer the arrival of a whole suckling pig. Wow. I'm definitely doing that for my birthday next year.

We both ordered the Cheeseburger (£10). Mine with triple cooked chips, and PJ's with a tomato and herb salad.

The burger was moist, meaty and succulent. Cooked medium. Perfect. A fresh topping of salad on a bun that was not too hard but not too soft puts this burger up the charts. Triple cooked chips were very good indeed and I devoured them with ketchup, slapping PJ's incoming hands as she inevitably lent across to steal some.



I retaliated and stole some of her salad. This doesn't sounds much like a fair exchange nor much comeuppance but actually the freshness of the tomato salad and herbs was actually very pleasant.



The service was slick, food was well above average for a pub and was offered at reasonable prices. I will definitely be going back to try the Sunday lunch. If the burgers are anything to go by, it will be a treat.

Monster Munch Rating: 80%

The Albion
10 Thornhill Road
Islington
London
N1 1HW

0207 607 7450
http://www.the-albion.co.uk/