Nice one
A Bethnal Green stalwart, The Old George recently had a facelift, while mercifully not losing it’s charm, and added a cracking seafood-heavy menu by chef Sam Andrews to boot. Rachel Smith drops by this benchmark modern boozer.
I was once offered cockles in an East End pub. I’m not kidding. I was enjoying a pint when a man came into the pub, reached into his poacher’s pocket, and started flogging cockles to the punters. Seafood has always been a big part of Cockney cuisine: jellied eels, winkles and whelks. But I thought the days when estuary fishermen touted their wares round local pubs were behind us. Clearly I was wrong.
I didn’t buy the cockles. But last night, I did enjoy a big bowlful in a nearby, slightly more reputable pub, The Old George. The Bethnal Green stalwart has been serving thirsty Londoners since 1703. But last summer, it became part of the Antic London group, and chef Sam Andrews was installed in the kitchen.
The new management have, thankfully, resisted the temptation to transform The Old George into a generic gastro pub, and it’s still full of character. It’s a big pubby-pub with a large beer garden, boozy locals, dim light escaping through chintzy crystal fittings, and the odd tile missing in the toilets. It looks like kind of place where you go for a great pint – but it doesn’t scream haute cuisine.
Chef Andrews hasn’t let appearances get in the way though. As I relaxed with a cider in The Old George’s garden last night, a string of pub-priced, but restaurant-standard dishes were brought to the table. The emphasis is on seasonal, honest food. The Old George might be a traditional East End boozer, but Andrews isn’t a traditional East End pub chef. He souses and smokes fish in house, and makes his own pickles and ice creams. Not a microwaved baked potato in sight.
The menu changes daily and is often influenced by what their suppliers, such as Simsons Fisheries, recommend. The sardine migration has just brought shoals to British shores, so they were on the menu last night – in a “fish finger sandwich”. It’s actually a very clever way of serving the fish. Visually, the bones can be off-putting, but concealed between two slices of bread, the focus is entirely on taste – and the horseradish cream and sharp slices of pickled cucumbers perfectly complimented the little oily fish.
The cockles marinière was a delicious twist on the more common moules marinière, and the roasted skate wing made a big, meaty portion . It was wolfed down by my usually carnivorous husband, who announced he would happily turn pescaterian if he could always eat like that. For my main course, Andrews had managed to intercept some of the 12,000 tons of British hake which is exported to Spain every year, and cooked “Britain’s most sustainable” fish into a beautiful spaghetti dish which would surely stop Brits letting so much hake disappear abroad if only they had a taste.
There was a time that shellfish like cockles were enjoyed as cheap, East End pub grub. But somewhere along the way shellfish was dominated by restaurants and became associated with champagne, starched linen, lobster crackers and big bills. So if you’re ever nearby, help reclaim shellfish by heading to The Old George to enjoy a halfie and a bowl of cockles for under a tenner and eat End fish as it should be eaten.
The Old George
379 Bethnal Green Rd, London E2 0AN
020 7033 9726
