The Rosemary Branch, De Beauvoir Town

The Rosemary Branch
2 Shepperton Road
De Beauvoir Town
N1 3DT
020 7704 2730
www.rosemarybranch.co.uk

by Dr Sigmund Fried

If asked what things I’d most like to see when approaching a pub, it wouldn’t be two very pissed men, almost certainly on wang, wrestling purposefully outside. Two men going at it mano e mano à la the fireplace scene in Women in Love, was, however, the sight that greeted Hashley Brown and me as we neared the Rosemary Branch.

Ordinarily we might have decided to go somewhere else, musing that such potentially life threatening horseplay was to be avoided, but following a brisk cycle along the canal, esurience now had us both in its own half-nelson.

The only breakfast option on the menu was the 'Rosemary Brunch', but what an option. Presented on possibly the biggest plate I’ve ever seen, for £7.95, we got 2 very meaty, herby sausages; very tasty black pudding; crusty, buttered bread (of which Hashley was worried there wasn’t enough, but happily admitted to being wrong post-brek); spicy “homemade” beans that gave just the right amount of kick; half a sanguine grilled tomato; and two rashers of bacon. Now, the latter Hashley wished had been crispier, and I’d probably agree, but this really is a small quibble.

Unashamedly a theatre pub the Rosemary Bush is a lovely, vaguely ramshackle affair, with the type of furniture and furnishings that this implies, and the sort of place you could imagine, back in the day, Peter O’Toole or Ollie Reed falling out of into the night. That Hawaii-period Elvis was playing on the jukebox for the duration was also a sign of impeccable taste.

The King, we know, was a serious gourmand – he would’ve liked it here.