A couple of years ago, fed up with the limited beer selection in the nearby Lord Clyde, I came across a small, unassuming corner pub on Essex Road. It had a curious maroon front and inside the dark interior twelve keg fonts sparkled in the dim light. A scattering of furniture adorned the floor, with largely mismatched sofas and low tables. A pile of board games sat in the corner on top of an old piano, free to use for all that wanted to play Scrabble with a few letters missing or maybe Trivial Pursuit with question cards from 1990.
This was the Hops and Glory, and it was the first proper 'craft beer' pub that I'd ever stepped foot in (BrewDog aside).
I'd discovered a love for beer back in the mid-2000s. Of course, my later teenage years were driven by cheap lager and Stella-induced headaches but by my twenties, dislike of the basic taste of lager I had written off beer as "not for me" and moved over to cider - the hangovers were worse but the product didn't taste horrible. I was converted back to the hoppy side by the combination of a lack of cider in the pub I was frequenting and a cask of St. Austell's Proper Job, and I eventually became a bit of a cask beer Nazi, refusing steadfastly to drink anything that didn't come from a hand pump.
On that first visit, I stuck to the three handpumps although the selection wasn't exactly inspiring. I became a regular and with the advice of Graham (the regular bar keep on Saturdays) and the landlord, Durham, I was weaned onto the keg selection and my appreciation for quality 'craft' keg was born. For two years I kept coming back but the beer selection started to get a bit samey and I found that the area by Angel station was a much better bet for craft. The Hops became another one of those "pubs where I used to drink" but I will always be grateful to the staff there for opening up my beer horizons even more than CAMRA and cask ale did.
The Hops shut for a couple of months after the summer for a refurb and to add a bigger kitchen so when they announced a "soft" opening I headed down to see what Durham had done with the place.
Inside, the main decor was pretty much as it had been before but the new kitchen protruded out into the pub, taking up the area where once there had been some comfy sofas. The tables and chairs were all new, and a huge long table sat in the middle of the pub, catering for several drinkers and diners at once. Although it looked smart, my main concern was that the pub now looked and felt a bit like a restaurant, despite Durham's assurances to the contrary when I questioned him about it.
Still, the half of Beavertown's Neck Oil was spot on but the star of the show was the food. We shared two dishes, selecting the bavette steak and the celeriac. The steak was beautifully cooked and flavoursome and sat on a most wonderful aioli which was so nice I forgot I was on a diet and promptly ate it all. It came with a portion of duck fat chips which were nice and crispy on the outside yet fluffy and light once you bit them. I'm not one for ordering veggie dishes but the celeriac was just as good, how you get that flavour from a bit of celeriac I'll never know. It came with roasted parsnips (good, but you can't really do much with a parsnip. It'll always just taste of parsnip) and a nut mayo which lifted the whole dish. I could have easily eaten both dishes and even at full price they'd have been good value for money.
We left after dinner but I'll definitely be back - I'd like to see what the beer selection is normally as on our visit they only had a couple of beers available and the bottle fridges were still absent, and I want to try some more things on their menu. If the landlord can balance the pub operation so drinkers are accommodated as well as diners then it'll be one of the best venues in the area but hey, if it just becomes a restaurant which serves nice beer then Islington may have lost a pub, but it's gained an excellent eating establishment.
The Details:
The Hops and Glory
382 Essex Road
Islington
London
N1 3PF
http://www.hopsandglory.co.uk/
You must have heard of BrewDog. They've been making a fuss in the beer world since 2007, brewing up high strength beers, sticking two fingers up at the establishment (including CAMRA) and making a truckload of money - all while pushing their "punk" attitude at anyone and anything they come across. They stuck a toe into the London beer scene a few years ago with a bar in Camden and since then have slowly spread out over the capital. Having had schemes in Islington thwarted a few times by the council, they have finally got through the licensing minefield with their latest idea, Dog Eat Dog - a hot dog-cum-craft beer mecca.
Just by looking at the layout, Dog Eat Dog isn't your average drinking den.While there are some small tables by the windows, the main bulk of the seating is at big, long tables that dominate the room. The kitchen is at the back, open so you can smell the hot dogs and hear the chefs while a huge neon 'Dog Eat Dog' sign gives the interior a reddish hue. The bar is almost an afterthought, tucked away in one corner and barely four meters long. Those twelve yards encompass twelve taps, in the occasions I have visited there were nine BrewDog beers and three guests each time. The bottle list is much cut down compared to the other bars but it's a good one and often rotated meaning most people can find something new and tasty to drink. Food is ordered at the bar, and you can choose between a variety of 'named' hot dogs with set toppings or build your own with a plain 'house' dog and a bountiful list of toppings. The combinations possible are substantial enough to keep someone satisfied for many visits!
I first visited on a Friday and it was packed, but we got a seat within a few minutes and general seat turnover seemed quite high with plenty of people coming and going. Unfortunately the queue at the bar was dishearteningly long - it took fifteen minutes just to get to the front and the melee didn't subside during the hour and a bit I was there. Maybe they need a slightly longer bar area considering the amount of seating available. The general atmosphere was good though, I was worried that it might be a bit sterile given the format but it was lively and jolly and I enjoyed my dinner and drinks greatly.
As I was passing and needed breakfast, I dropped in again last weekend. The place had only been open for half an hour and was pretty dead so it was a much more relaxed environment. I ordered a pork house dog with green dog sauce (!) and jalapenos washed down with a half of Born to Die - a great beer bursting with fresh, citrusy hops. The hot dog itself took a little bit longer to arrive although this wasn't surprising considering the time of day and I passed the time chatting to the barman who was attentive, knowledgeable and friendly. The dog itself was just as good as the first one I'd had - the green relish was chilli based and made a nice tangy contrast to the slightly sweet pork hot dog and the jalapenos gave a crispy, acidic finish. I put a little of the local Dalston Chillies hot sauce on the last third of my hot dog and that gave a lovely fruity scotch bonnet kick, changing up the taste yet again. Smashing, and a most enjoyable breakfast snack.
I didn't know what I was going to make of Dog Eat Dog and I was sceptical that such a concept would work, however on both occasions I have been most impressed and they will have a frequent customer in me. Now, cue all the jokes about sausage fests....
The Details:
Dog Eat Dog
27-31 Essex Road
Islington
London
N1 2SA
https://www.brewdog.com/lowdown/blog/dog-eat-dog
Hot Dog sampled: House dog with jalapenos and green dog sauce, £6.50
For my first burger review, I offer you Lucky Chip. Operating out of two venues in north-east London - The Old Queen's Head in Islington and Birthdays in Dalston, these guys have been about for a bit and I have attempted to get one of their burgers at the Old Queen's Head a few times, only to be thwarted by lack of tables. No such poor luck this time though and I sat down eager to get stuck in.
Their menu is pretty standard for the modern burger joint - hamburger, cheeseburger, bacon cheeseburger, fancy burger, chicken burger, veg option and special - but I actually quite like that, sometimes an abundance of choice can affect quality and certainly makes it hard to choose. I opted for the Royale with Cheese (the fancy burger) which was basically a bacon cheeseburger with "special sauce". My companion is a bit burger shy and just ordered the spicy mayo cheese fries but I was secretly happy about this as it meant I could get an idea of what the sides are like! The service was relatively swift and the food was in front of us within fifteen minutes.
The burger came attractively presented and thankfully I didn't have to construct it myself, I really hate it when people don't put the damn salad in a burger - if I don't want part of the burger to be included I will just ask the kitchen to leave it off!
The burger patty was cooked perfectly - a lovely medium - and well seasoned, with flavoursome beef. Despite having three sauces the meat wasn't overwhelmed and shone through well, the cheese was lovely and gooey and the bacon wasn't overcooked. Sadly one thing spoiled the taste - the saltiness. It was almost the last thing I tasted on each bite but it was there, lingering on and meaning I drank an entire pint of diet coke in the five minutes it took me to eat the burger. It didn't render it inedible, and I still enjoyed it, but it did mean that the high mark in my mind when I first bit in to it was substantially reduced. It was just too much. Some people like their salt and this wouldn't be an issue for them but for me it meant a mark of 7.25 (out of ten). The fries suffered from the same affliction, the saltiness charging through at the end despite having strong competition from the chilli sauce used to spice up the mayonnaise. Maybe they just serve salty food.
A solid start to the burger reviews then, which could have been more spectacular but for a bit of restraint with the salt cellar!
Lucky Chip: 7.25
The Details:
Lucky Chip Burgers @ The Old Queen's Head
44 Essex Road
Islington
London
N1 8LN
www.lucky-chip.co.uk / www.theoldqueenshead.com/food-drink/
Burger reviewed: Royale with Cheese, £8.95
