There's no shortage of gastropubs in Islington. The Barnsbury, the Drapers Arms, the Marquess Tavern, The House, the Duke of Cambridge and The Albion, and probably several others too. But on a sunny day, The Albion on Thornhill Road is the pub of choice on account of its huge garden and barbeque, and so we booked for 8:00pm.
By the time we arrived at 7:45 it was clouding over rapidly, and the moment we set foot in the huge garden it started pissing down like a bank holiday weekend. However the friendly staff parked us at the bar, where I had a very nice pint of Black Sheep, and then found us a small table in the corner of the restaurant.
The last time we came here, it was for a long summer afternoon. Tonight was a quick in-and-out end-of-a-long-week number - nothing fancy. So we skipped starters, ignored the lobster and the brace of quail, and went for sausage and mash and burger and chips.
To me, sausage and mash is the measure of a pub. It's so simple, so easy to get right and yet so many pubs get it so wrong. First off, it calls for the best quality sausage - there just are no shortcuts here. But then nothing more than a competent gravy and well-mashed mash and preferably something green on the side (but not too much, thanks, it's about the sausage really). And some mustard.
The Albion gets this absolutely right. It's a curly dog-poo of a cumberland sausage, but it's a good one. And everything else worked too - the burger was generous and fresh and accompanied by a decent pile of excellent "thrice fried" chunky chips. A glass of big, fat, spicy Cotes du Rhone was up to the job, and its long smooth finish added a touch of class.
We resisted puddings (but only just) meaning the bill came to a pretty reasonable £42 before tips - that's including one pint, one half and one big glass of wine. The score was 8 for food, 8 for friendly staff and 5 for the weather (well it was nice earlier) meaning 7 and a bit overall. Recommended, especially on a sunny Sunday.
By the time we arrived at 7:45 it was clouding over rapidly, and the moment we set foot in the huge garden it started pissing down like a bank holiday weekend. However the friendly staff parked us at the bar, where I had a very nice pint of Black Sheep, and then found us a small table in the corner of the restaurant.
The last time we came here, it was for a long summer afternoon. Tonight was a quick in-and-out end-of-a-long-week number - nothing fancy. So we skipped starters, ignored the lobster and the brace of quail, and went for sausage and mash and burger and chips.
To me, sausage and mash is the measure of a pub. It's so simple, so easy to get right and yet so many pubs get it so wrong. First off, it calls for the best quality sausage - there just are no shortcuts here. But then nothing more than a competent gravy and well-mashed mash and preferably something green on the side (but not too much, thanks, it's about the sausage really). And some mustard.
The Albion gets this absolutely right. It's a curly dog-poo of a cumberland sausage, but it's a good one. And everything else worked too - the burger was generous and fresh and accompanied by a decent pile of excellent "thrice fried" chunky chips. A glass of big, fat, spicy Cotes du Rhone was up to the job, and its long smooth finish added a touch of class.
We resisted puddings (but only just) meaning the bill came to a pretty reasonable £42 before tips - that's including one pint, one half and one big glass of wine. The score was 8 for food, 8 for friendly staff and 5 for the weather (well it was nice earlier) meaning 7 and a bit overall. Recommended, especially on a sunny Sunday.
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