Reviews Lord Palmerston

A great Sunday roast is something that all Brits love. Whether it’s your Nan’s best beef joint or a cracking rosemary infused chicken, the roast dinner could be considered Britain’s national dish. Last Sunday we were invited to visit The Lord Palmerston in Tuffnell Park. As part of the Geronimo Inns group, TLP is a pimped up gastro-pub that perfectly blends the old-world appeal of a great pub with our very modern foodie expectations.

The Lord Palmerston is settled atop Darmouth Park Hill, halfway between Tufnell Park and Archway. Although the hill is a bit of a trek, it’s a great way of working up an appetite and trust me, you’ll need it. The interior and exterior of TLP is very inviting with calming cream and brown undertones contrasted with lush greens, teals and pops of vibrant orange. The selection of tables and chairs is very pub by - although they are all different they seem to effortlessly work together. We took a seat in our large Grandad-esque leather chairs at the back of the pub, near the private terrace and old fireplace, and marvelled at how well this pub mixes old and new.

The menu on a Sunday features all their top hits from the A La Carte menu plus three roasts which make the mouth water. Although I would have loved to have seen roast pork on the menu, the offering of beef and chicken was sufficient for meat lovers. Vegetarians are treated to a butternut, spinach and cream cheese Wellington which looked fantastic. If a roast isn’t your thing never fear; dishes such as grilled Toulouse sausages with mash, seafood risotto or wood pigeon were also available.

The wine list is also rather extensive and with my very limited knowledge of wine, I chose the house red. I think house wines are a very interesting area of a restaurant. These should represent the restaurant and have qualities that the chef/wine concierge/owner want reflected onto their customer base. I chose the house red to share which was a lovely La Fougere Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon blend from France. I love French reds, especially a strong Côte du Rhone, and the La Fougere did not disappoint. It was light enough to match both the chicken and the beef, but with a velvety texture and chocolately finish. As I said I know very little about wines, but this one was gorgeous.

Our starters came about 10 minutes later on the most beautiful plates. This isn't something I normally make note of but I really liked these blue plates. It makes a real difference to see a pop of colour from the standard white plates, and amazingly made the dish seem bigger. Weird, I know. My tart (£6.50) was slightly warmed too which gave the cheese a melting texture. The Tallegio flavour could have been bolder but the strong presence of vegetables, especially artichokes which I love, in the tart was really nice. Alongside the mixed leads (which were not too bitter), this dish had a real Mediterranean feel to it.

We did have a slightly longer wait for our mains, however there was a table of 20 next to us so understandably the kitchen was quite busy. Both roasts came on the most ginormous plates with another dish on the side for our roasted vegetables. All roasts are served with kale cabbage, roasted vegetables, roast potatoes, gravy and, most importantly, Yorkshire Puddings. Any pub or restaurant that only serves Yorkshires with a beef roast is criminal in my opinion.

I chose the roast chicken (£13.50). These chickens are corn fed and thus have a rich, yellow colouring which stands out on the plate. The meat was gorgeously succulent with a fantastically crisp skin. I did feel a little overwhelmed at the size of the portion (a full half!), but it was a joy to eat. The bread sauce seemed to move as a single entity which was a little odd but the flavour was good. The Yorkshire was, obviously, brilliant and great for mopping up the gravy - which incidentally we ordered more of. 

Alex’s choice of roast beef (£16.50), was also delicious. The meat came in a big slab which cut beautifully and melted in the mouth. The meat was a rib cut and had been aged for 21 days, which gave a really fantastic flavour. He chose to layer on the horseradish and mustard (which I find awful), which created even more flavour combinations.

Now although we enjoyed these dishes I have a couple of niggles. The kale cabbage wasn’t really to my taste and I felt it could have done with a big punch of seasoning. The roasted vegetables were absolutely delicious but the roast potatoes.. now, now. I love roast potatoes don’t get me wrong, but I feel these didn’t quite live up to the mark. In a novel way the roasties are served whole, which means they don’t get the really crispy edges that create that amazing crunch that we love from roast potatoes. Although the inside was lovely and fluffy, I think because they were served whole the exterior was a little disappointing.

Very nice pub, we went for Sunday roast and enjoyed the chilled environment.The salad was very nice (I wasn't hungry to order the vg Sunday roast but they kindly offered to give me a side dish of vegetables and even gave me some vegan gravy 🥰 which was perfect 🙏🏼). I also ordered a special drink which was kindly done by the team and it was very good! The staff is super nice and they made us feel right at home! The Sunday roasts are very big 😱 Will come back again soon!

Friendly staff, amazingly tasty roast (such good value for money), catered to allergies and dog friendly. Will definitely be back. I think we have found out new local! Also, on a side note the pub is spotless… the tables/ pub are so clean … cleanest pub in both London.

Top top pub. Came here for a Sunday roast and was not disappointed. The decor is top notch and staff were super friendly. In a great location with ample outdoor space. The food was great and the drinks list extensive

One of the better pubs in North London. Located close to the Tufnel Park station. We popped in for a quick midweek dinner with the family. I had the fish and chips that came in a gluten free option. The others had Gnocchi and lamb. Overall the food was great, the service was a little slow but we understood that they were under-staffed. Will return again.

The holidays were a bit strange for us this year as for many but it was so nice to treat ourselves to a gorgeous meal here on Christmas Day. The staff were so friendly and there was a really warm atmosphere among the clientele. For me, the star of the show was the duck. Absolutely gorgeous. Our other main the halibut was delicious too but could have done with crispier skin. Overall, we really enjoyed our food. I'll happily come back to scoff more of it 😋