The new room upstairs at The Peasant is a further reason to make a detour to Clerkenwell’s celebrated gastropub, especially for summer dining in the new Conservatory and Terrace, while the ground floor pub still serves a choice menu.

The Venue
Since 2001 when the Wright brothers, Greg and Patrick, took over The Peasant, things have gone from strength to strength as they gradually converted this former old gin palace into a stylish and eclectic place with the best pub food this side of Farringdon Road - where those other brothers, Robert and David Eyre, began the whole gastropub idea at The Eagle back in 1991. The Peasant is a large and rambling site on the corner of St John Street and Percival Street. The pub downstairs is better than most, decorated with old posters and circus and fairground art, and has what they call ‘no-fuss dining’. Upstairs the new room is just as spacious with plenty of room for a few tables on the terrace which traps the sun very nicely though all the greenery.

The Atmosphere
The Peasant still has the ambience of an old Victorian property. It has not been tarted up to look modern but retains its own character and a pleasant ambience. When it’s busy it is probably a real blast especially downstairs in the bar, but either way it has all the good qualities you expect go find in a pub but without any of the dreariness that still permeates many a public house today.

The Food
They may say that the food downstairs constitutes no-fuss dining but the menu seems better than your average pub grub with garden pea soup, calamari, fillet of haddock, skate wings, shoulder of lamb and rare breed pork sausages, which is quite a lot to be going on with. The Peasant Ploughmans is way above the usual French stick with mousetrap cheese and Branston. Think instead of ham hock terrine with Devon Cheddar, homemade piccalilli, English Cox’s apple salad and sourdough bread – more than enough to do the Clerkenwell ploughmen proud.

Upstairs it’s even more serious but without being solemn, with pleasant service and an air of informality. On a bright day sit on the well-planted terrace and enjoy for starters a very fine fillet of mackerel with smoked tomato salad and duck egg, nicely presented with good fresh leaves and on the side a miniature horseradish souffle to give the dish an added zing. The English garden pea soup is a winner too with creme fraiche and amaranth (leaves like spinach or beetroot). Other starters include venison bresaola, confit salmon, pan fried scallops, fresh calamari or summer baby vegetable salad.

Main courses offer good fish in the form of roast halibut with pepperell (peppers, tomato and yoghurt), fresh sorrel and a light bouillabaisse. The duo of duck with roast breast and confit beignet (like a duck pancake roll) is perfectly pink and tender and packed with flavour. It’s served with bok choy Chinese cabbage and an orange miso sauce which adds to the flavour exceptionally well. Other fish include fillets of haddock and sea bass plus glazed Old Spot pork and roast cannon of lamb. The tart of buffalo mozzarella with baby artichokes and char grilled peach makes a more than usually exciting vegetarian dish.

Desserts include tarte tatin, pineapple and passion fruit creme brulee with seasonal fruits and an assiette of chocolate with a brownie, a mousse and a terrine or blackberry trifle. The lemon meringue pie with raspberry coulis is just as it says it is, with a big crisp meringue atop a pastry of tangy lemon filling.

The Drink
Wine list prices are from £13 to just over £40 per bottle, with seven or eight of the cheaper ones (red and white) also available by the glass from £3.20. The Good Hope Chenin Blanc, a South African Stellenbosch 2007 at £17.50 is a pleasant summery wine. As well as the reds and whites there separate lists of roses and sparklers at fair prices.

The Last Word
Upstairs at the Peasant is the place to go even if you are not a pub person. Rather more than only a boozer and even more than just a gastropub, it has two very good places to eat that raise it several notches above the average. The Wright brothers have definitely got it right.

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