A pub that’s welcoming to all, even when its meals gained’t be to everybody’s style
Pubs could also be a house away from dwelling for a lot of, however that’s not the case for everybody. As somebody who doesn’t drink alcohol, pubs had been forbidding locations once I was coming of age. Stuffed with soaked, doubtlessly aggro punters, unstated guidelines I didn’t absolutely perceive and overpriced delicate drinks – pubs had been locations wherein I didn’t really feel welcome. Gastropubs, then again, had been a very in another way kettle of fish.
Gastropubs felt, seemed and labored sufficient like eating places that I might acclimatise myself to the booze-stained methods of my adopted homeland whereas filling my abdomen. Some pubs serve old-fashioned pub grub or Thai meals. The Perry Hill Pub, a 2021 revamp of a beforehand closed pub in Catford, takes a unique tack.
Alongside a rotating collection of ill-defined but you-know-it-when-you-see-it gastropub dishes, there’s a seize bag of American-style barbecue. With the unhappy demise of Miss P’s Barbecue in Croydon, the Perry Hill Pub is among the few locations serving US-ish BBQ within the south east London suburbs (that I do know of).
Don’t escape the confetti although, not but anyway.
Barbecue on the Perry Hill Pub
Pulled pork at most pubs tends to be an unspeakable abomination, an indication of a kitchen overreaching thus far that they’ve fallen flat on their faces because of this. The hassle on the Perry Hill Pub gained’t set the world of barbecue alight, but it surely was respectable sufficient. Tender and calmly smoky with a meaty tang right here and there helped alongside by dabs of sauce. There wasn’t sufficient bark or bounce although.
Brisket was tender, however that was actually the one factor it had going for it. It didn’t have wherever close to sufficient bark or connective tissue for the multilayered mouthfeel and style that makes barbecued brisket so rewarding to eat. If something, the brisket right here tasted extra brined or cured – like its relative pastrami – than smoked low and sluggish.
Curiously, beef brief rib was not solely largely interchangeable with the brisket but additionally had the indignity of being served smothered in a sticky, generic sauce. It was nearly not price bothering with.
Gastropubby dishes on the Perry Hill Pub
If solely the barbecued dishes confirmed even a fraction of the ability on show within the bacon loin. A agency chunk with a young follow-through tinged with fats and a lightweight smokiness, its scoffability quotient heightened even additional by helpings of mustard and tarragon. To not point out the runny richness of a crisply-coated Scotch egg.
The standard of the bacon loin solely made the so-so nature of the pork chops all of the extra baffling. Though the chops had been ringed with fairly plump strips of fats and had been browned comparatively properly, the chicken was nonetheless just a little too exhausting for my liking.
Butterflied sardines made for a high quality starter, all fleshy and briney.
The sloppy and oozy development of the double cheeseburger might properly have been designed for Instagram, but it surely additionally had me reaching for wads of napkins and hand sanitiser afterwards – which isn’t excellent for what is actually a glorified sandwich. Even so, this was a extremely respectable sandwich – the coarsely floor and gently chewy patties had been filled with meaty pleasure, even when that they had been cooked well-done quite than one thing extra pink. The melted American cheese and overabundance of chopped lettuce gave this burger a McDonald’s homage really feel, however don’t maintain that in opposition to it.
Deep-fried, the squidgy unctuousness of the lamb sweetbreads was misplaced amidst the crunch of the fine-crumbed coating. Nonetheless, these grease-free quasi-croquettes had been pleasing sufficient – particularly when dunked within the hollandaise sauce. Even so, you’d be higher off choosing the deep-fried celeriac if it’s out there. Candy, starchy and toothsome celeriac chunks got here enrobed in a bready coating just like the one wrapped across the sweetbreads, however with its vegetal qualities shining via far more brightly.
Desserts on the Perry Hill Pub
Oddly chewy peaches made for an unbalanced peach melba, however no less than the citrusy, zingy ice cream was easy and bracingly, refreshingly chilly. The Perry Hill Pub apparently makes use of Hackney Gelato which explains why the ice cream was persistently pleasing – that’s one of many higher ice lotions out there within the supermarkets.
Pecan pie suffered from stiff, cardboard-like pastry and never almost sufficient caramelised brown sugar. However no less than the kitchen hadn’t skimped on the pecans.
The most effective of the desserts that I attempted needed to be the raspberry jam doughnut ice cream sandwich. For as soon as, the fact lived as much as the billing – sweet candy jam and easy, refreshing ice cream wedged right into a sugary, delicate and gently chewy English-style doughnut. It’s unusual for fried dough and ice cream to really feel and style so at dwelling with each other.
The Verdict
The Perry Hill Pub actually isn’t price bothering with when you have a hankering for barbecue. Texas Joe’s not solely stays probably the greatest barbecue eating places in London, it’s additionally a brief jaunt up the mainline from Catford.
The Perry Hill Pub is on considerably firmer floor with its gastropubby dishes, though even right here there are wobbles and missteps. For each cheeseburger, celeriac or doughnut ice cream sandwich price having, there’s a pork chop, lamb sweetbreads or peach melba that typically isn’t.
There are nonetheless good causes to name this pub a house away from dwelling although. The plentiful outside seating, protected by both palatial parasols or a gargantuan gazebo, rely for lots in a time the place mixing indoors with out correct air flow can nonetheless pose a public well being danger. When spliced with the pleasant service and a typically environment friendly web-based ordering system, every part across the plate could be fairly pleasing – even when the plate’s contents should not. Given the chaotic, liminal section of the pandemic wherein we now discover ourselves, all of that counts for excess of it as soon as did.
Title: The Perry Hill Pub
Department tried: 78-80 Perry Hill, Catford, London SE6 4EY
Telephone: 0208 161 3311
Internet: https://www.perryhillpub.co.uk
Opening Hours: Wednesday-Sunday noon-22.00.
Reservations: most likely a good suggestion.
Common value for one individual, together with delicate drinks and repair cost, when shared between three: £33 approx.
Ranking: ★★★☆☆
