The Angel Of Bow, Bow

It was time to ask myself again why I do this every week, with a trip to the scary part of east London (says the guy from Hull who lives in Croydon), at The Angel Of Bow, in Bow.

First, I think we all need a hug.

An Olympic gymnast hugging a large ball of parmesan
Via Gabriele Seghizzi/Parmigiano Reggiano

Ahh, doesn’t that feel good.

We have choices in life. Go for a roast dinner 1.5 hours away, or don’t go for a roast dinner. Be a social media influencer all day or be an Olympic gymnast known for hugging large balls of parmesan cheese. Solve climate change and world poverty with your self-professed genius whilst being the richest man in the world, or be an anti-trans Twitter troll banging on about Dogecoin whilst being a pathetic tinpot fascist, “civil war is nigh”…is it fuck.

Also his daughter is fire. Yep, he reckons he has 5 sons. Aha.

Elon Musk's daughter showing how much she hates Elon Musk

Back to cheese?

A Chinese woman delighted with a soft toy of cheese
Available to buy on Amazon. Mr Cheese that is.

Lord Gravy. The Angel From The North.

The Angel Of Bow used to message me and try to get me to review them, and I was like, “are you sure…looks a bit basic”.

Eventually I relented and added The Angel Of Bow to my to-do list. It had some decent reviews on Google Maps, not that especially means a lot, plus it meant a new tube station ticked off…which means almost as little as a good review on TripAdvisor.

I entered a pretty decent pub. They had a good beer choice, including a really tasty NEIPA from Neckstamper. The décor was cool, with some funky tit bits on the wall, and they had a cute garden both out back and out front – neither receiving the sunshine as they were both very small gardens, but first impressions were positive.

Even if they did seem to think these were acceptable chairs for eating a roast dinner in on a hot, sunny day:

Chairs that are not suitable for eating a roast dinner on
© Copyright – Roast Dinners In London 2024

Bow itself seems to be a mixture of scary looking council blocks, and less scary new builds – so I guess there has to be a pub like this for the latter. Even Croydon has some good pubs.

Granted, my only previous experience of Bow was The Green Goose, and that was an abomination, and if I’m judging areas by roast dinner experiences, as I do…then Bow is so far not for me.

Lord Gravy. The Roast Dinner Reviewing Angel Of London.

Roast dinner menu at The Angel Of Bow
© Copyright – Roast Dinners In London 2024

Only two meat options on their roast dinner menu, though the 1990’s website hacked together by children seems to suggest that sometimes they do other meats – I guess those sometimes might be autumn and winter, not a rare hot summer’s day.

Sirloin of beef was £19.95 and chicken on the bone was £17.50. Or you could have a vegan mushroom wellington at £16.90. I went for the chicken, pretty much only because I had beef last week.

As we were scared of paying under £30.00 for a roast dinner, we also added a scoop of extra mature cheddar cauliflower cheese, each, at £3.00.

Chicken roast dinner except the chicken is hidden
© Copyright – Roast Dinners In London 2024

Staring with the carrots, which were lightly roasted though fairly flavourless – no honey, no herbs, no seasoning, but acceptable enough.

Parsnips were similarly roasted, at least in length of time roasted and hence were rather anaemic. Yet again, no flavour.

Green beans were just full of water, with zero enjoyment.

Was the red cabbage going to be the highlight of the vegetables? Nope, though I’ve had worse – the lack of flavour elsewhere would suggest that it was unlikely that I’d suffer an overburden of winter spices, and that was proven correct. I could taste vinegar, and it was on the soft side. Not sure either is a compliment though.

Margaret Thatcher. The Angle Of The UK.

The cauliflower cheese which we paid extra for wasn’t too bad. A bit on the mushy side, but it did actually taste of cheese, as you’d hope cauliflower cheese made with “extra mature cheddar” would. Basic, but it worked.

Chicken roast dinner
© Copyright – Roast Dinners In London 2024

It likely won’t surprise you too much that the roast potatoes were pretty shit. Too tough on the outside, and pretty dry on the inside. I attempt to eat two of the four roasties supplied, and gleaned no joy from any.

The yorkie was actually freshly cooked, which is a London miracle. Alas it was a little oily – you can still see the oil on the earlier photograph, and it was there to taste too. But let’s take some compliments – freshly cooked, not burnt, fully edible – The Angel Of Bow actually did a fairly decent yorkie.

Beef roast dinner
© Copyright – Roast Dinners In London 2024

My accomplice had the beef, and was quite loathing of it – somehow it tasted of soil. Yep, soil. I’ve never known her eat so little of her roast.

My chicken was quite easily the better choice. It was reasonably plump, though a tad dry on one side. Again, it was missing any form of herb or seasoning, but otherwise it was fine.

A bowl of sludge
© Copyright – Roast Dinners In London 2024

Finally, I like thick gravy. I need thick gravy. But this was sludge. Tasteless sludge – I wondered whether it was Bisto granules, but then you’d have that yucky factory salt taste – and there was just so little flavour. I guess it had been thickened using cornflour or something similar – it was almost as if they’d added a water-based jelly to it. Quite dreadful, I’m afraid.

The Angel Of Bow.

So the Angel Of Bow has the best roast dinner in Bow, but given that the only other one was this, that says as much as a 5 star Google review of a roast dinner in Torremolinos.

The worst roast dinner in Bow - The Green Goose from 2023
© Copyright – Roast Dinners In London 2024

At least The Green Goose pretended to use herbs.

This roast from The Angel Of Bow was pretty crap, but it wouldn’t actually take too much effort to make it at least half-decent.

Seasoning! Herbs! Sort the dreadful, flavourless gravy out.

Did I like anything? The yorkie, chicken and carrots were decent enough and wouldn’t be out of place on a better roast dinner. But the red cabbage was too vinegary, green beans full of water, parsnips undercooked, roasties tough and dry, and the gravy was sludge.

My accomplice barely dared to give her score, and eventually went for a 4.70…which considering how little she enjoyed it, was perhaps generous.

I loathed it less than she did, and am offering a score of 5.22 out of 10. I should stress, I thought The Angel Of Bow was a great pub and if you are in the area, it is worth going for a drink or 3. I would go back…for drinks.

I won’t be back next week. I won’t be back ever again…perhaps. But I am running out of patience – 4 months since I’ve scored a roast in the 8’s. It’s all gone downhill.

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Summary:

The Angel Of Bow, Bow

Station: Bromley-By-Bow

Tube Lines: District

Fare Zone: Zone 3

Price: £17.50

Rating: 5.22

Get Booking

https://www.theangelofbow.co.uk/

Instagrim

Loved & Loathed

Loved: It is actually my kind of pub, and has a great beer selection. Well worth going for a drink.

Loathed: No herbs, no seasoning, the red cabbage was too vinegary, green beans full of water, parsnips undercooked, roasties tough and dry, and gravy was sludge.

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