Game for Anything @ Jugged Hare

A vegan’s worst dream come true: four cuddly, furry hares hanging by their back legs above the swinging kitchen door.  On each side a selection of equally dead pheasant, quail and guinea fowl somehow conjured up the Dead Parrot sketch from Monty Python.

But for those of us blood-thirsty meat eaters the Jugged Hare at the Barbican was the place to be as a storm of Biblical proportions lashed London, flooding parts of the city, closing hospital departments, stations and roads as fire-fighters sped to 600 emergencies.

We shook off our soggy jackets and brollies to soak up the warmth of a good old London boozer offering good old Sunday roasts: ham, pork and beef.  And, oh yes, for the faint-hearted veggie there was the choice of butternut squash, caramelised onion and sage Wellington with all the trimmings of roasties, veg and plant-based gravy.

You could also soak up the sense of relief as Londoners, weekenders and staycationers revelled in the new-found freedom from the worst of lock-down restrictions.  The staff, of course, wore masks as did we except at the table.

The Jugged Hare’s décor is smart, all well-polished wood, oak floor, studded red leather seating,  an open kitchen with burnished copper pots and pans.  Boar heads, stag heads and an assortment of hunting trophies adorn the walls.

For every dish served in the game season there is a taxidermy specimen on display. I am assured that this is the widest and best taxidermy collection of any pub in London, or indeed any pub in the country.

Along the lines of that pledge at the end of movies _ ‘no animal was harmed in the making of this film’ _ I am told that all specimens are ethically sourced and from some of the top European and UK professionals.

City workers might remember this pub as the King’s Head, owned by Whitbread, London’s largest brewery, which slaked the thirst of beer drinkers for over two centuries until closing in the 1990s. ETM took over the pub in 2012, handsomely remodelled it and added a restaurant and an impressive private dining room boasting restored Champagne racks, vaulted ceilings of a cellar that once housed beer barrels _ and yet more taxidermy.

Much of menu echoes this theme: the 18th century dish of jugged hare, of course, but also many game dishes including Yorkshire rabbit loin wrapped in salt cured pork belly and roast whole suckling pig.

Even the starters tend towards hearty: white onion and Cheddar soup with beef heart (£7); venison Scotch egg with Cumberland sauce (£7.50); English asparagus, fried pheasant egg, radish and garlic mayonnaise (£8.50).

We shared a chunky terrine starter of braised guinea fowl, wild mushroom and spring onion wrapped in cured ham, piccalilli and sourdough (£11), resisted black pudding croquettes with Guinness HP sauce  (£7.50) in favour of another shared starter of dressed Dorset crab with nettle pesto, celery and apple (£16).  A light bite among the heavyweights.

But on a storm lashed Sunday we favoured comfort eating.  It might be our last meal for a while.  Roast Tamworth pork belly for me and 45-day aged Longhorn beef rump for my Parisian friend, all served with traditional trimmings of Yorkshire pudding the size of Yorkshire, duck fat roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables and gravy (£18); washed down with a perfectly paired Portuguese house red. All served by our attentive Romanian waiter who sweetly shared secrets of his love-life.

Wild horses…

Embracing the meat-free zone of puddings we hit on two whisper-light winners (£7). English strawberries, white chocolate and vanilla mousse, basil sponge and candied lemon zest took my fancy.  We shared chilled coconut tapioca, rum roast pineapple, mango sorbet and passion fruit.  Surely that added up to our Five A Day?

Warm on the inside and dry on the outside after a proper Sunday lunch we emerged onto London’s rain-sodden streets.

We were happy bunnies – sorry, hares.

• Jugged Hare 49 Chiswell Street EC1Y 45A. Phone: 0208 161 0190 info@thejuggedhare.com.