The Spread Eagle (Bar)

Top 10 things you need to know about The Spread Eagle pub:

1) North London’s Parkway is where people who don’t need markets and canals go to find fun in Camden. The guitar bands play loudest at The Dublin Castle; the sun shines brightest in The Edinboro Castle beer garden; and stun-gun coolness is most potent at The Jazz Cafe. So why would you need to visit The Spread Eagle pub on Parkway?

2) Because it’s one of the best inexpensive gastropubs in London, that’s why.

3) The pub’s exterior might seem like it’s calling out for old men, but the interior - with its fresh flowers, quirky lampshades and recent wooden overhaul - has other ideas.

4) Step into The Spread Eagle’s refreshingly chic rusticity and you and yours will instantly become bohemian chums, jolly families, or flirty couples, all congregating for ridiculously filling gastro-level food and conversations of the sitting-down variety. It’s advisable to remove your tie if you’re coming straight from that work thing.

5) The true you will placidly reveal itself and gaze, maybe even gurgle, over the large range of wine entirely below £30 per bottle. You may even experience a pleasant tingling when reading the assortment of craft beers from exotic places like Belgium, USA and somewhere called Camden.

6) The core of a standard pub menu is there - burger, steak, sausage, mash, fish, chip - but lo (!), what are these unusual ingredients that pique the gastro-nerve in your brain? Duck egg; bloody Mary relish; bone marrow; celeriac; fennel; pomegranate; parmesan fries; and something called Champ!

7) You may, like me, become confused by the amount of delightful options laid before you, especially if you cast an eye over the daily-changing specials menu as well. In which case, The Camden Burger will come to your rescue, as it did with me.

8) Never have I considered whether I should eat something, or wrestle it. What a beast! Prime British beef, American cheese, Camden Hells sweet BBQ pulled pork, and onion rings. In a steamed bun. It was too mighty for hand-to-hand combat. I armed myself with a knife and fork instead.

9) Thankfully, I’d started the evening with the light, gin and beetroot-soaked salmon. Otherwise I may not have made it onto dessert.

10) The Spread Eagle’s mmmm-inducing seasonal menu and dangerous levels of cosiness give you yet more reasons to pay Parkway a visit....read more