Is this the best roast dinner in London?
Farrier Camden offering up the most impressive menu I’ve seen in years, and it’s dog friendly!
Honestly, when people ask me, what should we do this weekend? Unless it’s the height of summer, Camden is one of the last places I would ordinarily pick. It’s busy, crowded, a bit mental. BUT I’m about to change your mind.
Sundays have just been elevated, immensely. Enter, The Farrier.
As always, I never know what to expect when entering a pub or venue that serves a roast for my first time. Roasts are epic, we all know that, I’ve managed to go for a roast every week for over three months, I am the forefront of the fan club, but still, you never know. I took one look at The Farrier’s new roast menu, and I just knew, this was going to be next level.
The first thing that truly captured my attention, and in a good way, was the fact that there were no starters. A roast dinner is a gargantuan dish, and one that is sometimes spoilt by indulging in a starter. As much as I love a traditional prawn cocktail, or a fresh ceviche, I can honestly say I haven’t finished a roast in my three months of ‘roasting’ – mainly due to having a starter. This is also a bold move, it says, we’re confident in our roast offering.
The second thing that struck me, is this is by far the most impressive roast dinner menu I’ve seen in London to date. On the day we visited there were nine… nine roast options. That’s got to be a record of some sorts.
I’m also going to list them out because each dish was so impressive. On this particular day, guests could choose between: Grass Fed 28-Day Aged Hereford Beef Rump with horseradish cream; Gloucester Old Spot Roast Pork Loin with toffee apple sauce; Hampshire Venison Haunch with red current jelly; Beetroot & Walnut Wellington; Cornish Lamb Rump with mint sauce; Royal Windsor Park Whole Roast Pheasant with red current jelly, alongside specials of Sticky Treacle Gloucester Ham, Roasted Pigeon and, the beast, The Mighty Market Roast (venison, beef and pork),
Never in my 30 years had I seen such a roast menu. Where to even begin? We did manage to make a choice and the decision was made slightly easier by the fact that each dish has the same side dishes: hispi cabbage, chilled pickled red cabbage, glazed carrot & parsnip, rosemary & garlic roasties, Yorkshire puddings and red wine gravy. We went for the lamb and pork dishes and could barely suppress our moans of joy. It was a real Harry met Sally moment – but with roasts!
Best of all, there was an abundance of sharing sides which were truly spectacular. The Giant Pig in Blanket could have been its own roast base and a special shout out to the Smoky Bacon Minted Peas which were superb and the Truffled Cauliflower Cheese which is a huge bowl of gooey deliciousness.
Every single element of the roast was spot on, seasoned to perfection and each subtle flavour, seasoning and addition shone through with each individual bite. There is a short and sweet dessert menu, but the portions are so large it’s hardly needed. Despite that, I was tempted by the Dragon Fruit Cheesecake served with passionfruit sorbet.
If you can possibly take a moment to drag your gaze away from your loaded plate, a mean feat, you will find charming décor. The space is a Grade II listed former horse hospital and stables, keeping elements of this wooden and brick structure. The ambience is warm and buzzy, and I loved the fact that the tables are well spaced out and you don’t feel on top of each other, as you often do on a Sunday in a crowded London pub.
As if it couldn’t get any better, they also have an on-site wine store, which is one of Camden’s best sources of natural, low intervention, organic and biodynamic wines. Pooches are welcome too.
Rest assured, I will be recommending this place to everyone, and it seems I’m not the only one as Secret London named the venue as its number one Sunday roast in London for the second year running in 2023 too.
Find out more > www.thefarriercamden.com
