Lord Palmerston

For some reason Thomas and I saw fit to return to The Lord Palmerston despite 1) being pretty sure they made us both ill the last time we ate here, 2) the woman behind the bar is rude (I think we have a clash of personalities - she tried to make us order fondue, er, no) and 3) we had some perfectly good tuna steaks at home which we should have had for dinner instead.

So, have they redeemend themselves thanks to this visit? No. In fact, I'd knock off a point or 2 and now rate them a meagre 4 out of 10. I had a smoked chicken salad with beets and orange. Not the fondue thank you very much pushy lady, it might be a special but it's not my fault that you clearly need to flog it. I thought my salad was alright when I began eating but the chicken was quite fatty, there was lots of limp, rather rubbery skin both attached to the meat and floating around of its own accord. There was barely a smidgen of dressing on it and were it not for the orange it would have barely tasted of anything.

It was boring and miserable. I should have gone for the buffalo mozzarella and tomato salad, I can't get enough of this at the moment, but it was only a starter portion. Thomas, as usual, had the steak and chips which was hideously overcooked despite his request to have it cooked medium rare. The chips were the saving grace for me here as they were chunky and dark but Thomas prefers fries so even this could not salvage the dish for him. The roasted tomatoes are a nice touch, again, Thomas seemed unimpressed with them.

It's a shame because their heart's in the right place, some of the meals I've had here and not written up have been very good but the last couple of visits have been a huge let down. I would advise you to not eat here, I shall not be returning, unless I fancy an argument with the staff who took offense when Thomas informed them that his steak was 'just ok.'

Thankfully I'm off home to Kent for the weekend to eat at some much loved and oft returned to reliably good pubs with hopefully more positive things to report upon my return, going to the seaside too, yay!

Boo's profile     Other reviews by Boo     Places Boo likes    

On Sunday, the first sunny and warm(ish) day of the year Thomas and I had a nice local pub lunch and the obligatory jug of pimms sitting in the sun.

The Lord Palmerston is a delightfully quaint little place, situated at the top of Dartmouth Park Hill, a stones throw away from Tufnell Park tube station. Last summer we were frequent visitors but it lost it’s appeal to us throughout the winter months due to our associating it with al fresco activities. We plonked ourselves down in the prime sun spot on a bench out front and were envied by the bar staff, one declaring to me that this would be his exact way to spend the day were he not working.

How wrong we were though to discount the inside areas. When the air turned chilly we ventured in and around the corner from the bar there’s a brilliant little area where one can enjoy the Sunday Paper and a glass of whatever. Our chosen tipple was Pimms, though they were lacking the fruit to make it as good as it should be. We lounged on a beaten up old leather couch for a couple of hours and were pleased to find a very cute downstairs dining room and a lovely wooden panelled, creaky floor boarded function room upstairs which would happily seat around 30 people. I’ll bare this in mind for future events for sure.

Whilst basking in the sun (well sort of, we ignored the cold breeze for as long as we possibly could) we both enjoyed the Roast Loin of Pork with mixed vegetables, roast potatoes and apple and cinnamon sauce.

I loved the vegetable selection, each cooked perfectly, with just the right amount of bite and the apple sauce with it’s pleasant and warming hit of cinnamon. The whole thing was perhaps under seasoned though and lacked oomph. The potatoes were okay, they looked good, crisp on the outside but were perhaps a little too hard on the inside.

I felt the dish was a bit cold, this can possibly be down to the fact that we were eating outside so I won’t hold that against them. We both wished we had opted for roast beef in the end. Alfie, a well behaved dog with a group of people at a nearby table, certainly seemed mightily impressed with the aroma of it as plate after plate wafted through the bar!

The service here can be slightly prickly, depending on who is serving you, there’s a definite sense of ‘i’m so much better than this’ with some of the staff but they probably are so who am I to complain. It seems to be the type of place where regulars are a combination of lone diners who like that they are unpestered or groups of young people who are well acquainted with the place and the owners. This is certainly the case of a Sunday it seems.

Now, I wish to cast no aspersions when I say both Thomas and I were very ill that same evening. It might have been my experiment with homemade meringues which unfortunately were undercooked, in that they were more like lemon meringue pie in consistency than pavlova. That aside, we shall return to the Lord Palmerston in future, if for no other reason than the mean jugs of pimms.

Boo's profile     Other reviews by Boo     Places Boo likes    

not a good experience - service was terrible. Sat down at 8.30pm, at least 15 mins before the waitress took our drinks order. Waited for 45 mins before our starter arrived which was bland.. not enough duck in the duck salad and the potatoe broad bean salad was bland and tasteless. main coure arrived around 10.15pm which wasn't exciting either. So many others around us were also waiting for starters and mains and there was only one waitress who seemed to disappear for long periods. bad lighting in the main bar and a few boisterous groups of people which grated my ears. They seem totally unprepared for what looks like a very popular bar and would be so much better if had more staff and an extra chef.

Louise's profile     Other reviews by Louise     Places Louise likes    

I do agree a little with the previous comment. They do seem a little short staffed sometimes behind bar and some of the "regulars" are less than desirable.But i still love this pub, ive only started to go in the last few months and i always have a pleasant time. The staff are great, the manager always recognises us and the food is always superb.Its our new favourite local.

This pub has so much going for it, and yet I keep having bad experiences here. If it's not the slow service at the bar, it's the boorishly raucous types in the garden on a summer evening. The two came together on a recent visit. I and a couple of other people were standing patiently at the bar, waiting to be served, when up struts a builder type, who was drinking with his mates outside, and says to the middle-aged bar lady, ignoring all the other people waiting to be served, in a tone of voice that was more an order than a request: "Here Kath [not her actual name], do us a couple of pints of Carling would you?" The barwoman duly serves him before everyone else without demur as if he is some kind of local royalty. Perhaps the guy was a long-time regular, but that is no excuse. It may sound trivial, but this kind of experience leaves you feeling dissed, and means I won't be returning soon to the Lord Palmerston.

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