Last Updated on March 11, 2024
Roasts done right in the City
It was on a scorching Sunday afternoon that we walked into The Jugged Hare, situated in the welcome shadow of the Barbican and its sprawling brutalist architecture. On such a hot summer’s day, our first impression of the Jugged Hare was the cool breeze of the air conditioning – an increasing necessity in London restaurants. Once cooled down, we noticed the thematic taxidermy hanging from the ceiling and the walls, with a striking selection of birds in glass boxes decorating the staircase down to the bathrooms and a private dining area. From the décor to the menu, The Jugged Hare is a gastropub which takes a strong interest in sustainability and the origins of its meat, vegetables and other ingredients – the provenance of every item is listed on the menu, which changes daily. The chefs and management keep a close relationship with farms in Suffolk from where they source much of their produce, and the attention paid to small farms and producers is noticeable. Black Cow Distillery in West Dorset bookends the menu by providing both the vodka for the negroni and the cheddar for the cheeseboard. The head chef visits the fish market at 4 am to seek out new suppliers.
The restaurant’s offerings are also seasonal – we dined weeks away from game season beginning in August which will mark a noticeable shift at the restaurant towards venison or the eponymous hare for the late summer. Arriving on a Sunday in June, we were treated to the Jugged Hare’s selection of Sunday roasts.
First, we enjoyed two excellent cocktails from the extensive yet considered drinks menu. The Jugged Hare offers its own cask ale, but I was drawn to the cocktail section of the menu which offered an enticing selection including a Sea Salt Old Fashioned. The Sunday menu also comes with its own special selection of cocktails, and it was from this section that we ordered the Black Cow Negroni. The vodka, described as the smoothest in the world by the distillery, is made by taking the whey, which is normally discarded as part of the cheese-making process, and distilling it into vodka. The Negroni was deliciously bitter with a striking colour and burst of citrus from the orange peel. From the main cocktail menu, we also ordered the Lillet Spritz comprised of Lillet rosé, crémant d’Alsace and soda water. Light and sweet, this was an excellent beverage to order in warm weather.
The Sunday menu offers both ‘Table’ and ‘Starters’ with the former being sized more as bar snacks such as black pudding croquettes or haggis scotch egg, and the latter offering a more substantial serving size. For starters, we ordered the smoked cod’s roe with serrano and sourdough, and Herefordshire snails with garlic and parsley butter. Adorned with bacon, the whipped cod’s roe was creamy, rich, and perfectly smooth. We eagerly swept it up onto fresh slices of sourdough dipped in olive oil. The snails were well presented and fresh, and the garlic and parsley butter was deliciously moreish and had us wishing we had ordered some more Bannock sourdough to scoop up as much as we could. Also on offer from this section of the menu is burrata with fig, fennel, herb oil and toasted oats, whipped salt fish with caper hash browns, or pork and pistachio terrine.
Following an excellent beginning to our meal, we moved on to the main event of the Sunday roasts. Diners are offered a choice of three meats, either 45-day aged Longhorn beef with horseradish cream, Tamworth pork belly with apple sauce, or Welsh leg of lamb with mint sauce. For those seeking poultry, the rotisserie offers Dorset free range chicken with pigs in blankets, sage stuffing and bread sauce. Fish lovers are also catered for with Peterhead cod, clams, cavolo nero, pears and capers and cider sauce, and vegetarians or vegans are offered smoked celeriac, foraged mushrooms, tenderstem broccoli and salsa verde.
We ordered two roasts, one beef and one lamb and eagerly awaited their arrival along with the accompaniments of Yorkshire pudding, duck fat roasted potatoes, seasonal vegetables and rotisserie gravy. Importantly, the Yorkshire pudding on arrival was generously sized with just enough chew, and the gravy was the right consistency, and rich with flavour. The beef was noticeably of high quality and well prepared, and the lamb was melt-in-the-mouth tender. As to be expected of duck fat roast potatoes, they were hearty and luxurious. For a Sunday pub lunch, the Jugged Hare certainly excelled.
We just about had enough space for dessert and selected the sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream, and the dark chocolate tart with blackberries and whipped crème fraiche. Served hot, the sticky toffee pudding was fudgy and a strong rendition of a British classic. The dark chocolate tart was similarly decadent with the accompanying light crème fraiche and berries. For next time, we eyed up the cheese board with its Black Cow cheddar, Cashel blue, and St Thom.
In the heart of the City of London, The Jugged Hare reaps the rewards of taking deep care towards its suppliers and the origins of its ingredients, which is especially important for a restaurant which centres its menu on meat and game. The Jugged Hare gets the basics done right with dashes of flair across the menu. It’s well worth a visit, with a wander around the stunning Barbican estate compulsory for an after-dinner stroll.
The Jugged Hare
49 Chiswell St,
London EC1Y 4SA
02081610190
If you are a fan of game, do check our review of dining at the Jugged Hare during the Game Season
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