Wine in a pichet - so civilised, so French...
Crab and chilli pasta
Kingfish with pinto beans in a harissa type marinade
Poached salmon salad
Brownie with cherries and pistachio ice cream
Steamed marmalade pudding
The gorgeous garden
There are few finer things in life, when the summer finally gets going, than lunch in the sunshine in a lovely pub garden. Unfortunately, in London, this sometimes requires military precision planning, as everyone has the same idea once the thermometer starts rising, and the mad scramble for outdoor tables begins.
We'd already unsuccessfully tried getting a table at Inn the Park in St James's Park, and at The Albion in Islington. Trawling the Internet for somewhere outside that's not as wallet busting as The River Cafe, I came across The Engineer in Primrose Hill. I telephoned and got the last outdoor table for lunch - bonus!
Apparently, this place is something of an institution among locals, but being a) not very down with the kids, and b) not local, I'd never heard of it. It was really busy throughout the day, with people regularly turning up to try and bag a table outside and being turned away. Always a good sign.
We had a great little table in the garden, which, like my pregnant dining companion, was blooming and beautiful. I hit the wine list, quirkily encased in a Pokemon annual, and was pleased to note that a lot of the wine is served both by the glass, and in 25 and 50 cl 'pots' (pichets in France) - so civilised and something I wish far more British restaurants and pubs did. A rather nice bio-dynamic chilled rosé arrived to sip at (for me, not her!) as we perused the menu, and tap water was already on the table in a jug (again, British restaurants, please take note).
We both ate a divine starter of crab and chilli linguine, pleasantly fiery in the summer heat, with the brown crab meat flavour standing up well to the intensity of the chilli. My co-diner had a poached salmon salad, which was generous with the meaty chunks of salmon, super fresh and perfectly dressed. I had kingfish, pan fried in a harissa type marinade and served with pinto beans. This was good, with the fish perfectly cooked, my only minor complaint being that the beans were a little bland and would have benefited from a stronger dressing (lime maybe) to compliment the flavour of the fish.
For dessert, the pregnant lady (wistfully eyeing up my second pichet of wine) had a brownie with marinated cherries and pistachio ice cream. I didn't try the brownie for fear of being disappointed (I've yet to find a brownie better than the ones sold in the Ottolenghi delis), but I did have a taste of the ice cream as pistachio is one of My Favourite Things Ever. Not bad. I was going to have a very summery pudding of coconut pannacotta and spiced pineapples but our charming waitress told us "not to tell the chef, but the pannacotta is not very good - it's quite bland"! So I had a steamed marmalade pudding instead.. Not terribly seasonally appropriate, but a rather fabulous little pud, served with home made custard. The dessert wine selection was also worth a perusal, and I indulged in a tokaji pudding wine. I love the sweet sticky honeyed-ness of this wine and was moved to declare that this was 'like angels dancing on my tongue'. Maybe I'd spent too long in the heat and had a one glass too many. Or maybe that's just what a perfect Saturday lunch does to a girl.
http://www.the-engineer.com/index.html
NB: The Engineer is being threatened and asking customers to sign their petition. Apparently, the landlords are threatening to take possession and turn this into a managed public house or part of their franchise, which includes O'Neill's and the Harvester. This would be a travesty. Part of the charm of this place is its independence, its chilled out vibe, its individual staff and its seasonal and responsibly sourced food. The thought if it becoming an O'Neill's fills me with horror. Too many parts of London are just chain pubs and chain restaurants, it's time for an earnest backlash against big business homogenising everywhere and everything. Sign the petition here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/theengineer/
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