Many years ago I had a good friend who was very fond of the phrase, ‘if you don’t eat you die’. He was a jovial fat bloke who really loved his food and, rather ironically, he’s dead now. His untimely demise, if perhaps highlighting a flaw in his strategy, in no way lessens the undisputable accuracy of his words and it was with this inspired rhetoric in mind that we dragged our increasingly corpulent frames to Uxbridge Road and the Princess Victoria.
The day had involved rather a lot of traipsing about in Hertfordshire without anything particularly tasty to speak of so, come six thirty when we pitched up at the pub, to say we were feeling peckish doesn’t really do it justice. This was intentional though as we have both been here before, independently of each other (yes, we have lives outside of Publocation, although J’s wife and any number of my exes would in no way agree with that statement) and neither of us could wait to get back.
The pub is a refurbished Victorian gin palace, it wasn’t refurbished directly from the gin palace but we came here before they changed it and let me tell you it wasn’t far off. It’s had a stunning, sympathetic refit, one of the best I’ve seen and it was completed by Matt Wilkin and James Maclean, respectively FOH/sommelier and head chef, both previously at Michelin star level and it shows. Thirty six wines by the glass and a menu straight out of the Michelin guide add a definitive gastro to an unashamedly beautiful pub.
To give you an idea of what we’re talking about the bar snacks include Devon rock oysters, pigs cheeks with gribiche sauce and fresh made-to-order Scotch eggs. I have to admit I didn’t get one of the eggs as we were planning quite a feast as it was but if they’re anything like as good as I want them to be (just warm with a runny yolk in the centre) then I may even push the score up further.
The beer selection is classic; London Pride and Timothy Taylor Landlord plus a guest ale and the usual high-end lagers (Peroni, Staropramen etc). I won’t go into the wine in detail as it’d need a separate blog post of it’s own but suffice to say it’s among the best wine selections of any pub in London.
After much soul-searching we decided we would try to eat something and almost fell over each other scrabbling into the restaurant. The room is again magnificent with two enormous, ornate skylights bathing the room in, well darkness, it was six thirty in mid-January, but in the daytime… you get the picture. There are huge tables, perfect for larger groups, a real fire (my thoughts on real fires are long-established) and a stunning giant French armoire (what? it might be) acting as a big posh waiter’s station.
I selected a lovely little Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and we kicked off with the pig’s head terrine for me and Gloucester Old Spot, bacon and green peppercorn pâté for the blonde (he hates it when I call him that but this seems all very AA Gill so why not). Both excellent. I followed with roast cod and greens on lentils and J had the confit duck leg. Again marvellous. We skipped on dessert (purely because we were sat in front of the fire already four pints and a bottle of red in; we would have been going nowhere, never mind another four pubs) but the choices were mouth-watering and I’ve no doubt were of the same standard as the rest.
The menu was perhaps a little pork-heavy, suggesting they buy in whole animals and use them nose to tail but I think that’s more of a positive than a negative. I forget exactly how much it came to but for this level it was an absolute bargain and the service didn’t falter for a second.
If I had to be picky there are never quite enough people in the pub to make it buzz but the site is huge and it’s just a little bit far off the beaten track of it’s core market to be a strong local, but on everything other than atmosphere it gets top marks. Factor in the artisan food market in front of the pub every Saturday, wine and cigar (100% Havana in cedar-lined humidors) off sales and a walled herb garden with tables for the summer months and you have a pretty good crack at everything a dining pub should be.
This is a venue more than worth any effort to get to and going on form I hope they do well enough (and have the desire) to open more sites, we’ll certainly be watching very closely for any news of that difficult second pub.
If my old friend were still alive he’d have spent copious amounts of time in the Princess Victoria and more’s the pity, every pub could do with a bit more of that type of jovial bluster.
And it has to be said, if you are going to die eating, you could certainly do it in a worse place than this.
Bobby
Where: The Princess Victoria, 217 Uxbridge Road, London W12 9DH
When: 6.30pm Thurs 21st Jan, 2010
Unpublicised: Come in a group, take a big table in the restaurant and eat heartily.
Closes: The bar is open until midnight every day except Sunday (11pm)
Restaurant: Lunch 12pm – 3pm (Mon – Sat) 12pm – 4.30pm (Sun)
Dinner 6.30pm – 10.30pm (Mon – Sat) 6.30pm – 9.30pm (Sun)
Tel: 020 8749 5886
Website: www.princessvictoria.co.uk
Menus: On the tables
Interest: The pub do organised European motorbike wine tours and have many other special events. If you want to get involved visit the blog.
