Two very different takes on pub grub

David Sexton is not overly impressed with The Hunter S but finds The Blacksmith & Toffeemaker simply charming
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David Sexton20 March 2012

There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.” Arf, arf. Or maybe woof, woof.

The nomads of the steppes have their yurts, the Inuit their igloos. In Islington, what the people have for shelter and sustenance, foregatherings and ceremonies, are gastropubs. It has been said that in London, whether you know it or not, you are rarely ever more than 10 feet away from a rat. In Greater Islington, the same is true of converted boozers. There’s one everywhere you turn and no escape.

Yet there’s always room for another, or so somebody must believe, for Islington has recently acquired a couple more, just in case anybody is caught short between all the way-stations already existing.

The Hunter S

The Hunter S, in Southgate Road, formerly The Perseverance, is a sister pub to The Hemingway in Victoria Park, opened in 2010 by a company called Seven-Eighths — five guys who had previously run various bars and clubs. The Hunter S is named after a writer too, the gonzo journalist and committed substance abuser Hunter S Thompson, who topped himself with a Smith & Wesson in 2005.

They’ve gone big on the decor here, dominated by gigantic displays of stuffed animals — kudu, buffalo, and so on. An upside-down bear clings to the ceiling, a treat for those who find their meals enhanced by such illustrious corpses. The taxidermy thing has been going on in gastros for some time now — perhaps it’s just a coarse message about getting stuffed? — but here it’s just a lot bigger than ever before.

It’s quite a large open space, spaciously accommodating the usual assortment of batty furniture, ranging from schoolroom discards to ironically ornate Frenchy suites. There are chandeliers, you bet, plus a shiny new embossed copper ceiling in the big skylight, and funky music plays to create a bit of speakeasy atmosphere. On Monday night the lighting was so dim that it was nearly impossible to read the menu, which was printed in type so tiny and stylised it might as well have been written in ancient Khmer, proving decipherable only in the brightly lit loos. Or you could take a torch.

The food was over-ambitiously conceived and lamentably delivered. From the starters, “Tiger prawn carpaccio with spring onion, cress salad and chilli oil” (£5.50) was strikingly nasty, the first sign of trouble coming when the cheery waitress warned that the plate was dangerously hot. The thin, butterflied slices of prawn had indeed dried out, not so much cooked as vulcanised, and stuck to the plate.

“Salmon foursome of rillet, smoked, confit and caviar with melba toast” (£6.50) appeared on the bill as a “salmon trio” — but a foursome isn’t the next one up from that (that would be a quartet), it’s an unnecessary stage on from a threesome, almost what SAS thriller-writers sagely term a gangf***. Needlessly complicated and messed about then, a very silly plateful — the best bits being the least processed: the plain smoked salmon, and the salmon eggs dished up with welcome sour cream and sadly stale dried bread.

Meatballs and mash (£11.50) were okay, pretty meaty balls indeed, but served with one of those generic, dark sticky gravies whose origins you don’t want to look into too closely, and some wholly irrelevant little pots of pickled cucumber and cranberry sauce. “35- day air-hung rib-eye steak with French fries (£15.50) was good quality meat, cooked as requested, if underseasoned and a bit wet, accompanied by passable frites. But the promised “marrow and tarragon butter” turned out to be simply a dry ring of marrow bone filled with butter tainted by dried herbs. You could always just drink here — though the wines start at £18.50 a bottle, so if you have a home of your own ...

1 star

The Hunter S, 194 Southgate Road, N1 (020 7249 7191, thehunter-s.co.uk). Food served Mon-Fri 4-10pm, Sat noon-10pm, Sun noon-9pm. About £70 for two.

The Blacksmith & The Toffeemaker

Formerly the Queen Boadicea, is named after a song by the late Jake Thackray, about an improbable shack- up, itself inspired by a passage from Cider with Rosie. It’s immediately pleasing as soon as you walk in, a beautiful conversion of three well-sized rooms, retaining the handsome oxblood tiling in the bar area, with a more refined look in the further room — lovely grey-green wood panelling, high ceilings, a long L-shaped banquette at the back, wall-mounted spotlights behind so you can even read if want. It’s a pleasingly uncluttered look altogether, the taxidermy being judiciously restricted to some seagulls in a glass case on the mantelpiece.

The food, chalked up on a board, seemed fairly basic stuff — scotch eggs, pies — but then proved to offer several substantial hot dishes too at the bottom of the list. Everything we tried was excellent. Potted duck (£5.50), in a little Kilner jar, with some crunchy blanched cauliflower and carrot on top, was juicy and mild, served with lots of excellent bread. A scotch egg (£3.50) was perfect — light herby sausage meat around a still soft egg, sitting in a pool of mustard.

Lamb hotpot (£12) had been carefully prepared in a mini-casserole of its own, when it’s a dish that plainly benefits from being cooked all together in a big pot for much longer, however sloppy a serving it then makes. A side-dish of cabbage came a bit fancily in its own little enamel pie-dish too.

However, fishcakes (£12) were as good as you’ll find anywhere, crisp but not overcooked, sitting on some good spinach, surrounded by a chive-flecked buttery sauce: simple, delicious, just what you want. A chocolate mousse (£4) was just as classic. So this is a welcome reversal of the formula: plain dishes delivered with expertise and sophistication. The well-chosen wines are fairly priced and the other drinking (14 different gins) looks enticing too.

The atmosphere here is good, the people charming (it’s been opened by Chef Marc Dalla Riva, with Matt Rix behind the bar, advised by Chris Barber of Leiths Food Solutions). They’ve got it right (though they could turn down the classic rock a bit). Here it’s easy to have a fine time, easy to remember what gastropubs — or, as it might be, taverns — can give you: general freedom from anxiety (Dr Johnson again).

3 stars

292-294 St John Street, EC1 (07766 402515, theblacksmith&toffeemaker.co.uk). Open every day noon until late (it is licensed until 2am. About £60 for two

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