Tomos Parry's big flavoured, wood-fired cooking at Brat has been justly lauded since it opened in 2018 – not least by Michelin, of course. Not so inevitably these days, the success of Brat has recently inspired a similarly lauded sibling, Mountain.
And, in between, ex-Brat chefs Ben Allen and Ed Jennings took their experience and knowledge, installed a wood-fired kitchen in Kentish Town's The Oxford Tavern, and renamed it The Parakeet. And, well, received similar levels of acclaim from very grateful north Londoners.
The interiors
Happily, unlike many a modern "gastropub" – if that's still the right term – The Parakeet has put roughly the same emphasis on the last syllable as it has the first two. The front half still feels like a proper pub, adding a very welcome buzz to proceedings, while the back half – with its impressive stained glass and open kitchen – is a fine and stately restaurant space. The lingering smell of woodsmoke is not unappealing either, of course. In short, it's the sort of place you can easily imagine spending several lazy hours one Sunday…
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The restaurant's impressive stained glass and open kitchen
The food
If you've been to Brat – or, indeed, one of the many "small/large plate" places that now dot major cities – you'll know the vague score. A hand-written blackboard on the left hand wall lists the regularly changing menu, dotted with pickles and ferments, unfashionable cuts of meat, homemade sausages, whole fish… This is not, I must stress, a complaint. I LOVE this style of eating – the best meals are often shared spreads of starters – and, as with their restaurant "ancestry", Allen and Jennings know their way around sourcing and saucing. There's cleverness and technique aplenty, plus extensive knowledge of unusual ingredients and flavours – oysters, fermented kohlrabi and pepper dulce, for example.
The oyster is a terrific start to the meal
In lesser hands, it would all be a mess. Here, it's pretty much joy after joy after joy. That oyster is a terrific start, but we were also taken with the smoked mutton sausage – a combination of words that you can't ever refuse, surely? – the lamb belly, courgettes, artichoke and anchovy – ditto – and the braised leeks, pecorino sauce and smoked mushrooms. A bright, sharp pollock crudo also impressed, but the absolute star was the whole sea bream, with piperade. The smoke of the fish, that little whisp of Espelette pepper in the piperade? Heavenly.
Allen and Jennings know their way around sourcing and saucing
The drinks
As you'd expect with such a strong pub setting, well kept beers are a given. There are a couple of classic cocktails on offer – a negroni, a paloma – as well as a zero alcohol spritz. Wines do get a little spendy, but with six whites, six reds, one orange and one pink available by the bottle and varying glass/carafe sizes, there's enough wiggle room to suit a lot of budgets.
Beers, classic cocktails and wines are on the bar menu
The verdict
However you order, however you drink, it feels like it would be very hard to have a bad night at The Parakeet. The team is charming and knowledgeable and impressively efficient (one even remembers me from a dinner at their previous employee several years before). The room is relaxed but smart. And the things on plates and in glasses are first rate. Come for a drink, stay for some food (the bar snacks menu is strong, too). Come for some food, stay for some drinks. Whatever the formula, The Parakeet is worth the visit, whichever end of the Northern Line you're from.
Neil Davey was a guest of The Parakeet Public House & Dining Room. 256 Kentish Town Road, London NW5 2AA; theparakeetpub.com
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