North Laine Pub

I wrote up the original visit to the North Laine pub soon after it opened and then thought it was a bit unfair as the staff were all obviously new and everything hadn't bedded in yet.

First visit - Pie

With a couple of good companions I popped into the North Laine Pub for some dinner. I ordered the chicken pie, which was served with mash, gravy and root vegetables. The meat and gravy in the pie was nice and well cooked. Chicken isn't really my favourite pie filling as I don't think it has a strong enough flavour to carry a pie - yet I love roast chicken! weird one. The mash was a bit lumpy and there was no gravy. By the time I noticed another table get their's and remembered mine was meant to come with gravy I had finished :-( I also liked the inclusion of beetroot. I think that this is an under utilised ingredient in British cooking.

Chicken pie, mash and root vegetables

The companions both choose fish and chips, which was almost my choice as well. They complained that the peas were hard, the chips soft and fish slimy. On our visit it had only been open a week and all the staff are very new and finding their feet. I still really like it as a venue, although the back area can get quite noisy!  

I'm going to go back in a couple of weeks to see if we just went on an off day. I'd have the pie again, but I'm going to keep an eye out for an interesting pie of the day!

Second visit - Roast

So, they've been up and running for a while and I've finally been back for food! Sadly not for a pie yet but that other classic the Sunday Roast. With a couple of trusty, and meat loving, companions I headed to the North Laine on a cold autumnal Sunday. I went for the Beef, which came served with carrots, cabbage, cauliflower cheese, roast parsnip, roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding and lovely gravy! For starters the gravy was some of the nicest gravy I've tasted, lovely and thick with lots of flavour.

Roast Beef

The meat was very nice, soft and a little pink in the middle. It was lean with very little fat so easy to cut and eat, with little waste for fussy non-fat eaters! (my nan would love it). As you can see from the photo the cauliflower cheese had a nice crisp crust with a creamy sauce. The potatoes were probably the weakest link and I think I've become spoilt by the vegetable feasts that most roasts in Brighton have become as I was missing some more vegetables. Could do with some broccoli or swede or maybe both?

Top quality roast, unfortunately they don't serve hot desserts ... I would've loved to have followed that up with a nice crumble and some custard! So although they've redeemed themselves in my eyes after the last visit, and not many places have a better food/beer combination, it isn't my "go to" pub for a Sunday Roast.