The Cat and Mutton

Had an hour to spare before a meeting in the broadway market area on a sunday late-​afternoon, so I thought I’d just sip a pint together with a good internet connection. Pint part went fine (although my Dark Star Hop Head was a bit flat), but wifi didn’t quite work out and the bartender dude was, well, a bit rude. «Mate, I’ve been trying to connect myself since 2 weeks and didn’t work… now you distracted me I don’t know what I was looking for… mmmhhh» great. Thx.
This inside looks, well, like an established 1729 pub looks like I guess: brown wooden ceiling, brown wooden floor and a huge counter, all this on 2 floors.
An «a-​ok» place I guess, but far from the quality spots broadway market has to offer.

We were visiting a friend in Hackney. She quit drinking, and we’d been walking for a while. So, we popped in here for a quick pint before dropping in on her. This place is right by London Fields and gets a good crowd. Certainly when we were there, and the funk and disco were fun. We were tempted to stay longer, but we had other places to be. I would definitely go back here.

These bloody pop-​up kitchen take overs! They do my head in. One time, Cat & Mutton has amazing roast dinners courtesy of White Rabbit… the next time it’s the worst roast chicken I’ve ever had — beercan chicken from Mother Clucker. I mean it was really bad. The roasters weren’t crisp, the chicken had poached in the beer steam and the veg was uninspiring.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the upstairs bar here with it’s perfect people watching windows overlooking London Fields and Broadway market and the bar downstairs is very beautiful with far better toilets than they had before the refurb but the food is not reliably good due to the frequency with which the kitchen is taken over.
Come for a drink, if you’re peckish, look over at the food others are eating and decide whether you really want to order some. You never know, it might be great but equally it might be disappointing.

The beer selection is ok, the battered asparagus with duck egg mayo is great, but sadly the music is so generic and boring.

I had been so excited to finally try out this local pub’s Sunday roast offering! It was Easter Sunday and the place was rammed but we managed to scrape together a table for our jolly group and enjoy the buzzing atmosphere. We decided to opt for the chicken roast between 4 people — it was a beast of a bird and absolutely delicious! The only downfall was the accompanying veg — a little sparse and on the dull side. Our Vegetarian companions enjoyed their veg wellingtons and we had a super time digging in and downing our pints!

The cat and mutton is a lovely little pub next to London Fields park, perfect for a stop after a nice Sunday walk.
The atmosphere inside is interesting due to the dark décor and metallic touches but I must admit I was not too keen on the animal heads hanging behind the bar. It does give off a hunting lodge vibe though.
The food is all right but I wouldn’t say it’s anything special. The skewers portion was full of vegetables and hardly any meat. Their Bloody Mary smells like a frat salad and tastes quite well though.
What I really liked is that they have lots of board games you can play so we had a few intense jenga rounds and a game of snakes and ladders that took way longer than it should have. It was quite fun though.
I would definitely go back there if I’m near the park as its a great place to go for a drink after a barbecue.

Best place to hang out on a Sunday, stuff yourself full of delicious roast and top it off with super tasty perfectly spicy bloody marys. Really friendly staff and they don’t rush you off anywhere, loads of time to just lay about and consider whether you have space for dessert :)
I came in on a Friday night too, totally different vibe, much more aimed at getting your drink on, but still really friendly and again there’s no feeling like you need to rush off somewhere. Cocktails were really tasty and the music was very foot-​tappy.

Feeling a little delicate and worse for wear on a Sunday morning? The Bloody Mary’s here are AMAZING… now I’m pretty picky when it comes to Bloody Mary’s (I prefer Bloody Caesar’s over Mary’s, being Canadian and all, so I’m a pretty tough sell when it comes to these drinks) but the ones they have a The Cat and Mutton are fantastic! Not too thick and perfectly seasoned. Yum.
Sunday Roasts here are also worth checking out. Comes out really quick and are delicious and filling. If you’re a group of 3+ I’d recommend getting the full chicken… the table next to us got one and we were all having a bit of food envy despite being ridiculously full from our own meals.

Where to start, for me this pub is as good as it gets — A perfect location matched with a vast array of drinks, food and quality service, what else do you need from a pub?
Sitting at the top of Broadway Market, the C&M is always a hive of activity but given the size of the place, it rarely gets too uncomfortable. I’ve been coming for a few months now and never struggled to find myself a seat, table or little booth to enjoy a few pints.
Started coming here after work on a Friday evening but this soon turned into a few more evenings, and now I rarely leave over the weekend! It’s a really unique pub, huge ceilings on both floors, and plenty of space to move about. The vibe in here is more than friendly, the bar staff are all keen to have a chat and just enjoy the few hours or drinks that you’re going to spend there.
In the week, you have a great Wednesday quiz night which is challenging but certainly got a sprinkle on fun in there (paper aeroplane round!) and the food is more tasty, quite reasonable too.
During the summer days, the place is even more perfect. With London Field directly opposite people just pop in when they can and with the amazing saturday market right out the door you can’t help but pop in.
I’d more than urge you to try this pub out, it’s worth going to the area to just sit back and relax. Perfect.

This place is always SO CROWDED every time I go! Very hard to get a seat, and not a great selection of beers on tap. All the while, because of its location on London Fields, it is an über convenient place to meet up in the neighbourhood. Was recently renovated, toilets are a lot cleaner now! Great music too.

We came here for a couple drinks after a big meal. Their cocktails are great! Watermelon cooler was amazing. Atmosphere was great. Good tunes. People dancing. Crowded & hot but still a lot of fun.

The gateway to Broadway Market — great atmosphere and cool crowd. I’ve been coming here on and off for about 5 years and have always enjoyed it. It would get 5 stars if it had a better range of beers as what they have is a bit of a let down, particularly when so many pubs have such a good range of proper beer these days. With the London fields brewery two minutes away you wonder why they don’t have their beers on their pumps. Weird.
We took some friends here last night after dinner and got a nice table and bottle of wine — the music was cool and the service quick and friendly. We will be back.

We took some friends on a stroll of the Broadway Market/​London Fields area — and were in need of some sustenance by the time we hit the gates of the park. Luckily Cat & Mutton is well positioned, and just as it started to rain (pour!).
Great spot for a weekday pub lunch! We started with the olives and hummus (both served with warm sourdough toast), Mac and cheese gratin with mushrooms (made fresh in its own skillet!), fish n’ chips with mushy peas, chicken club (the only slight miss, would’ve been much better on that wonderful sourdough — instead it was soggy wheat that was pressed in a panini fashion), numerous ciders, beers… all very satisfying. We left stuffed to make our way back home in the rain.
Service was great, too. Friendly, helpful, quick food that is made right before you in the open kitchen.
I’m sure this place can get mobbed on the weekends, but for Friday lunch we were quite comfortable, had a wonderful meal and enjoyed the staff. Would definitely return.

On my Friday night visit this place was packed to the rafters with an über trendy crowd displaying the usual assortment of manicured beards and amusing haircuts. It has a cool vibe, and the drinks selection is decent but the layout is a little sparse (essentially just one big room scattered with tables and chairs). It somehow lacks the cosy feel you expect to find when you approach it from the street. Good place to start your evening I guess, but I prefer the Dove.

When this place was first converted in 2004 from an old east end boozer the food was amazing, the best gastro food I have ever had. Food was inventive, not cheap but really amazing. Then the chef changed around 2006, around the time that Broadway Market was overun by Nathan Barley’s from Hoxton Square and now its just full of style over content people that groom themselves to look like they have slept in a bush for the last week eating roast meat type nursery food whilst they ponder if moving here from Ladbrooke Grove was really the right thing to do, just because their friend Toby’s dad bought a flat near the canal as an investment.
We went here for dinner again recently, the gnocchi was solid and inedible and Suzi Quatro’s Devil Gate Drive pumping out from the speakers made me want to stand on an antique piano stool dressed as a Chelsea Pensioner and throw up my own pelvis bone. It gets too busy too unless you go Monday-​Thursday night… is this place a boozer or a restaurant!!!, I don’t think it quiet knows, what I do know is that if you like eating sat next to someone who smells like a Sue Ryder shop but probably earns 75k a year for sitting in front of Quark all day then you’ll love it. Service is erratic unless you have a 70’s plastic jacket on and a goatee beard and a tattoo of a ‘mystic’ Hindu symbol on your lower left leg.

I’m going to have to have words with that fella out of Ghost Busters. You know, the one that sells tires? Well he has this guide book, the Michelin Guide, and apparently the Cat and Mutton has had it’s pride of place in that book for quite a few years now. I think they were mistaken. I think this is another pub. The aliens have landed and used their transport-​zapper beam to put in it’s place a pub filled with twats and over priced beers. Oh and don’t forget the rude and tutting staff from behind the counter.
«Oi, you with the thick glasses and a haircut your half blind friend did in your squat. Yeah, you! Don’t tut at me. I live here. I live on this street and am paying you money to give me liquid that will make my day rosy. Less of the tutting okay mate!»
Alright, I didn’t say that. I paid and quietly went on my way. But I was thinking it. And I’ll think it again next time I go in there and get tutted at, and the next, and the next!

Bethnal Green, Broadway Market and London Fields always used to frighten me. I had read fairy tales documenting their dangerously cool and relaxed vibe and because of this I had scarcely made the commitment to seeing some of my friends who live out in that particular mythical part of London. However, as I continue on my quest to slay the hydra of preconception I have successfully integrated myself into East London life with a plop. I think it must be the hair. Either way, my first sample of London fields life was at the Cat & Mutton and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Another place that just reeks of cool. Arty types, let’s call them, with their trilbies and glasses of white wine, deck the seating area and without appearing pretentious the cool of the cool clearly utilise this establishment to laugh, drink and eat. I can see why. The bar staff were relaxed, but not so relaxed that they didn’t attend to glass collection with military precision and food that was ordered was promptly delivered. I didn’t have any, but it smelt and looked awesome. Outside there is a general sensation of how I would imagine it is in a Lilt advert. Super laid back and refreshing.
Drinks are standard London prices. You’re looking at about 4.5 nuggets for a beer and 6 nuggets for a double spirit and mixer. So not cheap, but the atmosphere in there pays for itself.
From what I hear it really is the go-​to pub for the trendy elite. When Broadway market is in full swing it can get a little ramo, but could go a long way to calming that busy street stress level.
I liked it and I’m sure you will too.

Das Cat&Mutton ist ein sehr gemütliches und lebhaftes Pub in Ost London. Es liegt direkt am London Fields Park und am Broadway Market im Herzen von Hackney.
Wenn man die neuesten Styles von Londons kreativer Kunst.- und Modemenschen erleben will, ist man im Cat and Mutton genau richtig.
Viele nette, stylische, trendy Menschen sind Stammkunden und die Bedienungen sind jung, ebenso trendy und sehr freundlich und unkompliziert.
Das Essen ist ein wenig teurer als man es von einem Ost Londoner Pub erwarten würde aber dafür schmeckt es köstlich und hat oftmals den gewissen «Wow-​Effekt» mit Langustinen als Vorspeise und sehr gutem Steak.
Tip: Samstags tagsüber läuft direkt am Cat&Mutton vorbei der Broadway Market: ein sehr gemütlicher, kleiner Essens.-und Kunstmarkt der noch einer der wenigen Non-​Mainstream Märkte ist.

Busy, bustling and full of E8’s over spill lining the gateway to Broadway market on a Saturday afternoon. This place is legendary in the locality, harking back to the 1700s when it was originally called the Cattle and Shoulder of Mutton, a veritable feast indeed for the opulent period. Located just a few feet from the sprawling London Fields, I spent a rather pleasant afternoon sipping on organic cider and watching girls (sorry I mean) the world go by.
Famed for their hangover-​banishing Sunday roasts, the menu is moderately priced (mains £11-£16) with top nosh including the scallop starter and the melt-​in-​the-​mouth seared tuna loin. The über-​trendy staff are prone to pout and ignore your order though, so wave a cravat in their face if you’re thirsty!

The Cat and Mutton is the epitome of the trendy East London pub. It has a prime location at the London Fields end of Broadway market, and at its peak is one of the busiest pubs around. The pub itself is lacking something. The main down stairs are is one big room with tables and chairs, which feels like a school cafeteria more than anything.
There is a open kitchen to the left at the back and the bar is to the right. There is a nice symmetry and I like that you can see the chefs at work. There is never a shortage of staff, all dressed up and easily mistaken for customers as they seem to spend as much time socialising as they do working. Maybe they are working, maybe that actually are paid to stand there and look good. After all, it is all about looks in this pub.
The food is good, probably the best pub food in the area. Although you may pay in excess of 12 pounds for a main course, it is worth it. The Pork Belly is amazing, a traditional dish with a contemporary twist.
I must say the table service is really good. If you’re lucky, Andy, the General Manager, will take your order in his informal, yet personal and delicate manner. As far as table service for pub food goes, he is the master.
Throughout the summer, people flock to the Cat and Mutton both at night and during the day. The pub cannot hold the amount of people that come and the outside area seems to stretch (illegally) across the road. Unless you are after a pretentiously trashy, rowdy and broken glass filled experience, avoid the Cat and Mutton on a warm summer night.
The pub is closed on Monday day time but open Monday night. It opens normal pub hours the rest of the week.

I’m not sure what I feel about the Cat & Mutton. I should like it. After all, on paper, it has a lot of things going for it. Its got delicous food, it serves a wide range of drinks including a fine Guinness, its spacious and airy inside and there is rarely an evening when it is not full enough to have some sort of atmosphere going on.
In practice I avoid it. Something about the vibe created by so many young, alternative and utterly, utterly self-​concious people puts me off. I really feel when I go here that I am entering the private members room of a club I will never be offered a membership to.
If you are in the area on a Saturday and you are not as bitter about the Broadway set as me, then you can do alot worse than a swig of a bottle and a giggle at all the odd people on the crowded pavement outside. But for me that appeal wore thin pretty fast and I now usually go to the Albion, the Pembury Tavern or Bidels if I’m drinking in the locality.