This classic boozer has recently been taken over by the team behind my local - the Colonel Fawcett, in Camden - and the Smuggler's Tavern in Bloomsbury. As with their other pubs, they seem to have approached it with an eye for retaining what makes this a nice pub while upgrading the food and drink offering, and as ever it works brilliantly. The Campbell looks incredibly traditional - it's got the two-sided saloon/public bar arrangement, the horseshoe-shaped bar snaking around the divide - but there's good beer and better food.
(Actually, in keeping with the other pubs in the group, I'm guessing they are picking one drink to specialise in; at the Fawcett it's gin, and perhaps here it's cider? Anyway:)
We ate upstairs in the dining room, which is a small square room with exposed brick walls and just enough tables in to feel lively without sacrificing too much elbow room. The restaurant side of things, called Summers, seems to be a joint venture with the chef, who is late of the storied St John's, and is doing a determinedly Irish menu with great success. It's a charming place to eat; no pretensions to anything other than a good time.
As a snack we ordered the crubeens, which arrive in croquette form (rather than a more alarmingly trottery form) alongside a pool of mustard. There are only two of them but they are delicious little porky mouthfuls which I would happily have eaten three rounds of. Then the main courses: brill with leeks and samphire, and pork belly with a tarragon puree and carrots. On the side, some champ and a green salad.
Everything is perfectly cooked. The pork belly is exactly right, with a rill of nicely-crisped skin, a centimetre of translucent fat, and moist, pale flesh. The brill is a perfect wedge of flaky whiteness under a crisp brown crust. I loved the tarragon, a pale green sauce spiked with something like horseradish, and which went really well with the sweet pork and sweeter carrot. I hadn't ever thought of tarragon with pork before but in retrospect it seems obvious, which is often a sign that you're dealing with properly good cooking. The sides were excellent too; the champ really well flavoured, and the salad crisp and well-dressed with cider vinegar and spring onions.
I'll definitely be back. It's not what you would call cheap - it's in the neighbourhood of 4/8/16 for sides/starters/mains - but the cooking is terrific, it's a lovely place to hang out, and I think you can expect a good time with a very high degree of confidence. read more