There are two kinds of pubs in London, the first, a pub where it's all about the drinks, the food is only an accompaniment to the drinks. The second, is termed the "gastro-pub", where they serve restaurant quality meals at the pub. The Old Explorer, our first pub meal in London, belongs to the former category. Still, you can do simple food well, or you can do it badly. Unfortunately, The Old Explorer put our pub experience off to a pretty bad start.
Food
Since this was our first pub experience, we decided to go try some British "cuisine". The Cumberland Sausages & mash (£6.75)- British farm assured sausages served with petit pois & IPA spiced onion gravy and giant Yorkshire pudding definitely fits the bill. The plate was filled with a giant square pastry, with sausages and mash filling the middle, and then the whole thing covered with gravy. I should have known better. This definitely looked better than it tasted. The sausages were bland and dry, the mash of the instant variety. The gravy was tasteless, but at least it gave some moisture to the reconstituted peas.
The Minestrone Soup with Doorstop Bread and Butter (£3.35) was not much better. The soup resembled those alphabet soup you get in a can, overly sweet and tasting of tomato paste. It's a sin to call this minestrone.
Rating - 3
Atmosphere
There are a few pokies machine, a separate smoking and non-smoking area, otherwise it's a refurbished pub, with the usual polished wood. There are bar stools, normal tables and comfy sofas, which were all taken this lunch time. We sat on a table next to some screens showing what looked like a talent contest. Thankfully the sound has been turned off.
Rating - 1.5
Service
It's a pub, so you just about serve yourself. They bring the food to the table after you order, so I guess that's above average.
Rating - 2.5
C-factor
A rip off for some mediocre food.
Rating - 0
Brownie Points - 7
Info
23 Great Castle St
London
W1G 0HY
Phone 020 7491 0467
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