The Albion - Thornhill Road

Waited 90mins for our roast (table of 4) when the table opposite us came in about 20mins after us - a table of around 9 - had starters and their roasts before us. Once our roasts came it was underwhelming - expectation was higher after waiting so long. 1 carrot per plate and two slices of meat were a joke for the price. I was recommended through a friend who heard it was good. We won’t be coming back and I’ll tell her not to bother. When one waiter or manager (unclear) apologised for the wait (after having to go through. 4 other staff members) I said how are we going to rectify this as he thought the sorry was an enough when everyone else was getting seen to (no check ins etc - if we’ve been here so long with nothing then something is up) and he gave us a bottle of wine which is then only reason they get 3 stars on food and wine. But it must be noted, that was only because I said two of our friends finished a whole bottle between them before they got a lick of food. They were nursing their drinks too!

Just because you have a full pub doesn’t mean you’re good. Book people to a capacity that you can actually Operate a high standard to. This is on the more expensive side for a roast and it just wasn’t worth it. Money wise and experience wise.

Prior to coming it says you can only amend your reservation over the phone (tried for 3days via calling an. Emailing to see if there were earlier time slots - no answer at all). Literally couldn’t run a piss up in a brewery.

Honestly just got to a Toby Carvery. Cheaper, quicker and tastes better.

Slow service and my roast dinner was served without any potatoes. The food was not piping hot, the carrots were burnt on one side and the parsnips were verging on raw. Overall extremely disappointing. 

If good pub food with friendly staff and a great atmosphere is what you require then the Albion Pub is just for you. The pub is situated in a nice residential area of Islington and is managed by Beth who I knew from visiting Blacklock. It was a bit of a coincidence that we decided to visit as the thing was I wanted to have a walk from Barbican to The Angel to see how much it had changed since I worked in the area over thirty five years ago. So when I heard that Beth had taken over the pub it seemed a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone as they say. So after our walk round the Angel which really has changed and has now become very trendy we headed off to the Albion. We walked along Barnsbury Road until it joined with Cloudesley Road which then led you to Thornhill Road and this is where you'll find the pub. It looked very nice from the outside which had seating covering the entire length of the pub. When we went inside you could feel the buzz straight away which continued with the warm and friendly welcome we received. We were then taken to our table which was a booth in the corner and gave you a great view of the dining area. We ordered a drink while we looked at the menu which had a selection of five starters and eight mains. There is the a separate dessert and digestives menu.

We started with the heavenly Grilled Sourdough & Butter which was quickly followed by our starters. We chose the Soup of the Day which was Celeriac and the Pork & Pistachio Terrine with Gherkins & Sourdough. 

We then moved onto our mains where we both decided to have fish in two very different ways. My wife ordered the Grilled Monkfish Tail with turnip tops , smoked bacon & roscoff onion purée which definitely received a thumbs up. I decided to go for the classic Fish & Chips which was a lovely Beer Battered Haddock fillet with triple cooked chips , crushed peas & tartare sauce. This was without doubt the best Fish & Chips I had in a long while and would definitely recommend. We also ordered a side dish of Savoy Cabbage & Onion. 

After a little rest we then looked at the dessert menu where you had a choice of three as well as a cheese selection and a mix of ice creams and sorbets. We decided to share a Cheese course before moving onto dessert. 

Now it was on to desserts where of course you won't be surprised that we ordered all three. These were a Creme Caramel a Poached Pear & Chocolate Crémeux and the Sticky Toffee Pudding which was absolutely delicious. 

We finished with a coffee to conclude a great lunch. The food was delicious and the service especially from Andrea & Alex was excellent as they really looked after us. I would highly recommend a visit here at any time of year as they also have a large garden area at the back.