The Ape & Bird sits nearly on the
corner of Cambridge Circus, in the site that used to be The Marquis of Granby
pub. Due to its proximity to my first
London office, the memories of the previous incarnation are of Friday night gin and tonics, and the
occasional bowl of chips after a few too many.
The re-done Ape & Bird is rather nicer, sprawling back, down and upstairs. It’s billed as a Public House, and you can
pop in for a drink (there’s even a cosy so-called dive bar down below) like an
actual pub, or eat too.
Ape & Bird is a new addition
to Russell Norman’s collection which includes the fabulous Polpo (do go to one,
or even buy the excellent recipe book).
Instead of small Venetian plates, it’s very much British food, with
pies, mince and dumplings, crumble etc (perfect for freezing January).
From the starters I went all retro
with a prawn cocktail (£7), complete in a sundae glass. It was a great version not too messed about,
with sweet prawns and a few whole head-on poking out the top. The other starter we tried was the penny buns
(a type of mushroom), with squash, salsify and roasted garlic(£7) – a really
earthy and delicious plate.
B asked for the wild mushroom and
chestnut cottage pie. The meaty cottage
pie came out instead (£12), which was very tasty, but very lucky she isn’t a
vegetarian as they would probably not have enjoyed the surprise. I had the roast cod (£16), perfectly cooked
with charred beets, kale (cropping up everywhere if there’s such a thing as a vegetable
trend) and walnut pesto to bring it all together.
The Bannoffeebocker Glory (£7)
definitely needed sharing. A sweet,
sticky mess of ice-cream, toffee, biscuit, bananas, maybe some cream or something
else rich and sugary (it was hard to tell after a while) – decadent yet
old-fashioned comfort pudding.
Very central London is lacking
lots of good pubs with food, and Norman cleverly spotted a gap with nabbing
this place. It’s relaxed and cosy – a really
useful spot for theatre-land/Covent Garden.
It would be great for a roast on a Sunday too.