It was whilst at St John's Wood many months ago we first popped into this local pub. Set on the corner of Circus Road and St Annes Terrace, during the day it actually looks a bit grotty from the outside so I was initially a bit concerned about setting foot in there, let alone eating anything but as the other half really fancied a pint, the decision was made for me.

Once you enter the corner door, you are in a decent sized pub, wooden floor boards, padded seats round the outer edge, wooden tables and chairs and a substantial bar. If you walk round the bar there are more tables, you can also walk through a doorway and go up a few stairs to yet more tables and if you walk down these stairs you get to the kitchens and toilets.

~Service~

You don't have to wait long at the bar to be served and service is always polite and efficient. Prices seem reasonable too and glasses are always clean - I can't stand being served a drink in a greasy / lipstick smeared glass!
There are menus placed along the bar plus a large wooden board showing any specials that are on that day. Always worth checking it out as although most of the items on the board are the same as the menu, sometimes there is the addition of something different up there - like the king prawn skewers with chilli dip. You can place your food order at the bar or as what happened on Saturday when we met friends there for lunch, place your order at the table with one of the waitresses who comes over to take your drink and food order. We were also allowed to pay at the end of our meal which was nice.

~Food~

We've been there a few times now and Boyf has also met up with some of his photographer buddies for drinks and lunch on a few occasions and the food has always been spot on, never anything that you can say "Well, that would have been lovely if....".

The menu changes every so often but some of the regulars on the menu (I've included prices where I can) are:-

The Burger. A seriously juicy, meaty burger served with delicious relish and big fat skin on chunky chips and a tub of mayonnaise. £6.95
Fish and chips. A fair sized piece of fish covered in crispy herb flecked golden batter, the kind that's crispy but doesn't flay the inside of your mouth and isn't a "grease sponge". Comes with tartar sauce, skin on chunky chips and a big lemon wedge. £9.50
Dim Sum. Yes, a slightly odd thing I know, but they have a small Dim Sum menu where each item costs £3.95 or you can have a Dim Sum Tower which is 4 items for £12.00. Most items come with some kind of dipping sauce.

On the few occasions we've been there we've had:-
* The Burger *. As described earlier, a burger that tastes of meat, juicy, meaty, very filling.

* Chicken Satay with peanut sauce *. Totally unlike Chinese takeaway satay which is drowning in sauce, this comes as marinated and grilled-whilst-staying-juicy chicken and a tub of peanut satay on the side which from long-ago memory also had a mildly spiced mango dip which was absolutely delicious.

* Yorkie Fries *, chunky skin-on chips. These are very crispy but do have a tendency to be freakishly hot. They come with a little pot of mayonnaise. If you are peckish, a serving of these will fill the hole. £3.25

* Flank steak (with chips!) *. Boyf had this on Saturday and I'll admit I'm not a huge steak fan but this was amazing. It had been marinated in soy and honey so it was a rich glossy dark brown/black and you could see all the fibres of the meat. I was reluctant to try a piece as I can't stand steak you chew and chew for all eternity but this was totally the opposite, it didn't melt in the mouth but it was incredibly tender and although I was given a substantial piece to try I wasn't there all week chomping away. The marinade gave it a lovely soft smoky taste which at first I thought was some kind of oriental tea. £7.50

* Dim Sum *. I had the baked pork dumplings which were different to how I expected them to be in that they were like tiny Cornish pasties filled with a solid-but-soft piece of minced pork and coriander. This came in a bamboo steamer which was odd considering they weren't steamed, along with a small pot of mango chutney.

* Rhubarb crumble and custard *. The rhubarb has just the right amount of tartness and was cooked to that right level of softness, there were some really soft mooshy pieces and other big firmer chunks. The crumble topping was buttery, held its form (not a crumble that crumbled everywhere) and wasn't heavy or claggy. Not a huge amount of custard but then again, the rhubarb had enough of its own juice not to warrant loads, just nice vanilla-y custard really.

* Mango sorbet *. Friends of ours ordered this and received 3 large scoops. However, they couldn't eat it all and offered it around, I tried some and this was the one thing that wasn't so great (for me). I expected the flavour to be richer and thicker but instead I found it quite watered down. That's probably just be me though.

~ Toilets ~

These are down a flight of fairly narrow stairs and although I can't speak for the gents I imagine they'd be the same as the ladies so please, watch your head as the ceiling is so low in the toilet cubicles that if you happen to be 5ft 6" (like me) and get up too fast, you could end up concussing yourself on the arched ceiling. Having said that, the two cubicles themselves are always spotlessly clean, the basin has L'Occitaine handwash and hand cream and they also have one of those rather zippy Dyson Blade hand dryers plus a fair sized mirror for general hair and facial faffage.

~Recommended?~

If you are in the neighbourhood then yes, although there are lots of eateries in SJW if you can get into The Duke then I'd say go there. Its food that feeds you and not just food that fills you up.

www.thedukeofyork.com
2 St Anne's Terrace
St Johns Wood
NW8 6PJ
T) 0207 722 1933