Review: Angel and Crown, WC2N

I blinking LOVE girlie date night with my best friend.

We both love good food and finding new places to try, so before heading to meet some other friends for cocktails last Friday, we happily accepted The Angel and Crowns invitation to go in and try their new menu.

The Angel and Crown is the latest venture from Ed and Tom Martin, the brothers responsible for award winning venues such as The Botanist, The Cadogan Arms (which we loved) and The Gun. This newly refurbished pub is ETM’s first West End Venture, situated on St Martins Lane, in the centre of Theatre-land and near the heart of Covent Garden. The brothers aim is to make The Angel and Crown a destination point for drinking, dining and good times, following their proven Gastropub formula of great drinks and seasonal British produce.

When we arrived, the downstairs pub was HEAVING with after-work drinkers and lively revellers. We made our way up the narrow stairs to the dining room and after a few minutes lurking around, were shown to our table – one of just four in the smaller of the 2 rooms (we were informed there would be a party in the larger area later, so it was closed). It was an intimate space, with one table of 2 other girl-friends, and two couples in the room.

Our waiter was really friendly and knowledgeable about the menu – which is packed full of British fayre, but which we both agreed all looked rather ‘heavy’. Nothing clean or fresh looking if you’re on a diet – which we technically were – but had agreed on cheat day. Well, we are girls.

Starters at The Angel range from around £5.50 – £8.00, and include Pig’s Head Terrine, Half Pint of Prawns and Snails, Bacon & Pearl Barley. Tracy chose the Mackerel pate on toast to start, while I went for the Musssels. And wow. That was a massive portion of Mussels. Not that I’m complaining, they were plump and delicious, served with fennel and a tasty broth, which I mopped up greedily with (extra) bread. The Mackerel pate though was a little disappointing – blended beyond recognition and in my companions words, slightly reminiscent of a supermarket fish paste, both in flavour and texture.

The main course menu is interesting, and prices range from £11 – £17. Despite the many options available (including Braised rabbit with faggots, bacon & peas and Adnams beer battered haddock and chips) we both got lazy and ordered the Dexter Beef Burger; Tracy with Bacon, me without. Now, I am a burger-addict and believe you can judge a place on the quality of it’s patty. I asked for mine Medium rare, while Tracy went for Medium well. Both came out cooked to order and were juicy and pleasant – however the bread to burger ratio was somewhat off – the brioche rolls the burger was housed in were huge and we both had to leave the tops off, just too much dough!

Apart from that though, the burger and hand-cut chips it came with were very good. We also opted for some rather random sides (at £3.50 each) of Brussels with Chestnuts (a favourite) which were fantastic; lightly creamed, great texture and packed with flavour. Could have eaten those all night. We also ordered the Poppy Seed Onion Rings, which Tracy enjoyed but I found somewhat greasy. We disagreed here, so perhaps that’s just me.

We’d enjoyed a bottle of Marlborough over dinner, so decided to round off the meal with dessert (all £5), to polish off that diet once and for all. I tucked into the cheeseboard with gusto (surcharge of £4 but worth it – amazing) and Tracy had the Chocolate Fondant, which was also good.

A couple of times during the evening, we had to battle our way downstairs to use the ladies. To get there, we had to fight our way through the drinkers downstairs and then queue, as there is weirdly only one ladies toilet (that we could find/were told about). Whilst we were down there, we also came across th Specials board (after ordering) which we hadn’t know about, which was a shame as we’d probably have ordered from there. Oh well.

The Angel & Crown is new, and it’s OK. The food was definitely enjoyable, but it isn’t cheap and the “experience” could do with a little work, perhaps. Maybe things would have been different if the main dining area had also been open upstairs, as the room we were in felt a little odd and almost like an afterthought. Everything was clean and freshly painted, but a little plain and ordinary. We couldn’t really check out the pub downstairs as it was almost impossible to move through the throngs of people – but then if we’d have been out for a pubby drink with mates, that would have been ideal. Just makes it impossible to comment on the decor!

Personally from my experience, I wouldn’t have recognised The Angel and Crown as a sister venue to The Botanist and Cadogan Arms – but then location wise it’s a world away (in London terms!) so differences are inevitable.

I would return, definitely for a drink downstairs and I’d love to check out the dining room properly, perhaps on a weekday rather than a raucous Friday night when they’re fully booked with both diners and a party to host. I definitely think this could be a great venue, and will probably head back for a Sunday Roast at some point soon.

Costs: Around £30 per head without wine

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