The Londoner | A taste of the London life
Good English food, though hard to come by, is greatly comforting and truly delicious. After four years of living in England, there is I miss about those sodden years, save a Sunday roast at the pub.
Rachel Zammit Cutajar
If you had to list the world’s greatest nations for culinary effort few people would feature Great Britain anywhere near the top. Though Great Britain is widely known the world over, for its bland dishes smothered with Bisto gravy this is largely due to undiscerning diners and not lack of quality English fare.
Thankfully Malta has no lack of discerning diners so the opening of The Londoner gastro pub in Paceville is pretty exciting as the pub incorporates all things English – good beer on tap, a series of football matches on the TV, English music playing in the background and a great selection of some of England’s finest dishes, including Sunday roasts.
To get into the pub spirit I headed down to The Londoner nursing a sore head from the night before and low and behold, a prominent part of the menu offers a sure cure – a spicy Bloody Mary. For some reason – watery tomato juice – a good Bloody Mary is difficult to come by in Malta, but the one at The Londoner is worth its salt; good consistency, the right amount of spicy and seasoning, and true to its word offers a little comfort.
The menu offers a variety of English classics; complete English breakfast with eggs, bacon sausages, baked beans, mushrooms, black pudding and bubble and squeak, or bacon baps if you’re in a hurry.
If you’ve skipped breakfast are coming in straight for lunch, take a look at the great British starters; pork pies, deep-fried cheese or chicken wings with a spicy dip to keep you going till your mains.
Mains include some my all time favourite one-plate meals – steak and Guinness pie, fish and chips, bangers and mash and a selection of stews. And on Sundays roast lamb or beef with all the trimmings, Yorkshire puddings and smothered in gravy (not the Bisto kind, but real home-made stuff).
After lunch we stayed for a few pints of bitter, and though I’m not a football fan, stayed to watch a game (two games really – something to do with overall points and staying on top of the league, but it was of vital importance to follow both matches). What putting up with the football does entitle a foodie like myself to is conversation with pink Manchester fans, from Manchester (they provide way more entertainment than the game itself) and after a few hours of drinking, the Drinker’s Favourite platter which included Scotch eggs, with a near runny centre, chunky chips, made from real potatoes with Leister melt, pork pies, garlic bread and other yummy bits and bites.
All in all it was a fun afternoon out, reminiscent of many pub afternoons in the UK. I will most definitely be back. And one more thing… Happy Hour is from 3:00pm till 7:00pm – that’s a whole lot of happiness!
The Londoner is open daily from 10:00am till 4:00am.
The Londoner
Dragonara Road,
Paceville
Tel: 21376637
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