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.
Sourdough Bread & Butter
Celeriac Soup
Pork & Pistachio Terrine
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.
Grilled Monkfish Tail
Savoy Cabbage & Onion
Fish & Chips
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.
Cheese Course
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.
Creme Caramel
Pear & Chocolate Crémeux
Sticky Toffee Pudding
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.
Thanks to Beth and all the team for a fabulous lunch and hope to see you again someday.
