The Londesborough

my fiancé and i are holding our wedding reception here: D
it’s a lovely space with even lovelier staff (they have possibly been the most enthusiastic dog-​lovers we’ve came across in a bar too, and we always love it when people love our dog).
the service is great — very attentive and they have a super wine list and lots of local ales and beers. plus what seems like a nice selection of spirits and a reasonably priced wine list too.
a small garden out the back for summer days and tables out front too.
the food is well thought out and delicious. my fiancé and i both ordered the onglet steak on the recommendation of the guy serving us. it was great, but my one criticism would be to change the chips. they tasted like frozen rubbish and it sort of let down the full meal. some home cooked chips really do make a difference.
i’m sure i will be here many times between now and our wedding day to plan our décor with friends and enjoy tasting more of the menu and drinks.
i’m hoping i will also be able to report back after our wedding with a full five stars and lots of happy memories.

3.5 years after telling my boyfriend about the wonder that is the Londesborough Sunday Roast we finally made it there today. The last time I ate here was probably 6 years ago but the memory of having to ask to take half of the huge and very tasty dinner home stuck with me vividly.
My return was a let down. As it seems with most eateries in Stoke Newington since becoming a happening place to be the food has got worse. With a clientèle who are too British to complain restaurants get away with peddling substandard food at rip off prices. As a vegetarian I went for the spinach, mushroom and squash welliington which on paper sounded lovely. The other half and my son went for the Chicken. What a pricey disappointment.
The ½ chicken looked anorexic, roast potatoes were like bullets of which there were only 3, the overwhelming taste of the wellington was nutmeg, the veg was particularly on the crunchy side and the yorkshire puddings Aunt bessie-​sized and cremated. My illusion of the past shattered spectacularly. I refused to pay the service on the basis of such a poor meal. I will either be doing DIY roasts or travelling to Angel’s Mem and Laz or Le Mercury for similar portions at almost half the price.
The Pub does have a lovely atmosphere and the staff are nice so it is shame the food was not up to scratch.

Very friendly pub with nice food. The bar staff are really kind, beer selection is pretty good and the food is tasty. I’ve heard good things about their Sunday roast as well but have yet to try it.

This is a pretty nice pub in a Stokey backstreet. It’s got a really big bar area as well as a small backyard which gets crowded in summer.
It used to have lots of comfy chairs, but it’s recently been taken over by new management who’ve made the lower bar have more of a restaurant feel. This now feels a bit more cramped. I’ve only seen it on Sunday afternoons though with the new look so it may be less so at other times.
Food is expensive but quite nice and big servings. A good place to go with mates and sit round a big table chatting.

If you want a drink then this place makes a decent bloody mary.
However, avoid this place at all costs on the weekend if you want food and a relaxing brunch. We had a horrible experience last Sunday. After waiting for 50 minutes (we were told 45mins) for seats (table service is required to order food), we were told that we’d have to wait an addition 30 mins for the kitchen to serve us food. Actually we were told that because a table of 12 doubled to a party of 24, not a private party, that the kitchen was closed for 30 mins. They didn’t offer us a free drink or even a snack comp’d on the house. Good thing the people at the seats we were about to take said the food wasn’t waiting for so we walked around the corner to a fab meal at the Blue Legume on Church street.
I’d say the coolness of this place has gone to its head and now the customers don’t matter anymore. Too bad cause the place used to have a great vibe.
fyi: I notice in previous posts that someone said the chips were good. The people on Sunday said they found their chips soggy. Given all the great choices in the neighbourhood, I’d say skip this place until it’s able to manage its over-​popularity and get quality food back on the tables.

People rave about this pub but I have to admit I’m not entirely sure why because it seems to be a fairly standard gastro affair, lots of distressed wood, a wine list and nice meals, including a good Sunday roast. It also has a nice garden and a good in-​the-​know location in the warren of back streets of this residential part of Stoke Newington. But it’s a bit over-​priced and not very exciting.

This was my local when I lived in Stoke Newington and I loved curling up on one of the large, comfy brown leather sofas on the lower of the two split levels. The Londesborough was always very busy on Thursday evenings and at weekends and if a large group of us wanted a table, we’d have to get there pretty early. I always found the bar staff friendly and the selection of wines decent. We never really seemed to have trouble ordering portions of their scrumptious chips on their own but perhaps the chef has become more precious about that now :)

The Londesborough has some really good drinks available, pretty good food and nicely done interiors. However, for a local pub on the inner lanes of Stoke Newington, its pretty pricey. Admittedly its on one of the prettier streets of the northern suburbs, but its not quite in the West End, is it?!
The food is pretty good though, even on the pricey side. Some of the cocktails are good too, and you can chill out to DJ music on Friday and Saturday.
The yummy mummys that take over Stoke Newington have adapted this pub as a local hangout on Sundays — why only Sunday?! So although the Sunday roast is good, its best to carry earplugs to protect your hearing and enjoy your meal. If you choose the right time to visit however, you will find a great atmosphere, especially during the late evening on the weekend.

brilliant gastro pub style food (expensive but very delicious, and you’re not allowed to order a mere portion of their lovely chips on their own as it offends the chef!), lovely friendly staff, sofas, and big tables. They do totally brilliant jugs of bloody marys on hand at the weekend, which you can glug whilst chillaxing with friends at one of the big wooden tables or slumped pathetically in one of the hmmmmmmmmmm big big sofas! This pub is sister to a couple of other great gastro pubs in the area, the spurstow, the birdcage, and the three crowns, so if you like any of those, you’ll like this place.

I have had some mixed experiences in The Londesborough but the positive times have had more to do with the company and not the staff, who have more than once been quite rude and incompetent. Once at about 21.30 we were hungry and asked if they were still serving food. The woman behind the bar said a surely yes and then turned around without inquiring whether we wanted to order anything — though were quite hungry we decided to go and look for somewhere different.
The food I have had there has been quite nice. No great culinary experience but nice and you get a big helping. I have heard a rumor that they now have a no chips policy, but I’m not sure if it is still in place.
They have a DJ spinning records on most nights, which is quite nice. however, I find that the levels are a bit too high and it is difficult to hear what anyone is saying.
The front bar can get crowded but there is a big room at the back and a gravel beer garden where they have BBQs in summer. The layout does, however, seem a bit odd and it can be hard to find anywhere to sit even when it is not too busy.
The Londesborough is quite a nice pub, but they fall short of many of the other pubs in Stokey.