Haymarket Bar

With my mother Anne in tow, I decided to pay a late lunchtime visit to the Haymarket Bar. Not far from my abode, it’s a place I’ve been visiting from time to time for drinks over the past couple of decades, but I haven’t eaten there on too many occasions.

It has been through various incarnations down the years with the latest version part of the Nicholson’s chain. This meant that the menu was essentially the same as we’d sampled at the Conan Doyle.

The pubs tend to have a far better beer selection than food and while we weren’t partaking today, there seemed to be plenty of decent beer on offer.

Anne stuck to her tried and tested approach by opting for the fish n chips, while I had a plate of sausage n mash for the first time in an age.

I placed the order at the bar then the very friendly waitress/barmaid brought cutlery and condiments. She soon returned with the grub.

Served on a plate with the same design as at the Conan Doyle, Anne’s fish was an identical rendition, so gets points for consistency. It still had a slightly sad look to it, though. The chips were quite good, but the fish was underseasoned so whilst solidly decent was little beyond that.

My dish looked rather smarter with three crisp onion rings atop the sausages. The gravy was good and the mash nicely smooth, but the sausages were rather unevenly cooked making them slightly tricky eating. Parts were soft and had good flavour, but others were overdone and rather chewy.

So overall, the Haymarket is doing reasonably fair work. It lacks imagination but will deliver you a consistent product, so if you happen to find a dish that suits you, you can be reasonably confident of getting it served to the same standard across the Nicholson chain. I dare say I’ll run into another one of their places before long. I hope to find dishes with a little more pizzazz, then.

Scores
Blythe scores the Haymarket Bar
2.5/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for setting
3.5/5 for service
giving an overall 12.5/20

Today’s questers were: Anne, Blythe

We ate: fish n chips; bangers n mash

We drank: sparkly water

We wore: action footwear; burgundy shirt

Total bill: £18.90