The Sekforde, Clerkenwell

Welcome to this historic occasion, a roast dinner review of The Sekforde, in Clerkenwell.

Why historic, I hear you ask?

Well. It is the last ever roast dinner review…with the Tories in government.

Boris Johnson with a cake.
Image via Number 10 under license ATTRIBUTION 2.0 GENERIC

Now, we are having our cake and eating it.

Fuck business? Nah. Fuck Johnson. Fuck Truss. Fuck parties in lockdown, fuck Brexit, fuck Michelle Mone, fuck spending a whole government banging on about small boats, fuck legislating so that Rwanda is magically a safe country despite Kagame being the “African Putin”, fuck the “hostile environment”, fuck “let the bodies pile high”.

Fuck the Online Safety Bill, fuck the protest laws, fuck the Minister for Brexit Benefits, fuck all of the lying, fuck the gambling on the election date by insiders, fuck driving to Barnard Castle for an eye test, fuck Dominic Cummings, fuck Track & Trace, fuck sucking up to Nigel Farage, fuck calling a referendum, fuck damaging UK GDP by 5% a year, fuck Tractor porn.

Fuck Jacob Rees-Mogg, fuck Andrew Bridgen, fuck Nadine Dorries, fuck Matt Hancock (in a cupboard), fuck David Frost, fuck Priti Patel, fuck Suella Braverman, fuck Lee Anderson, fuck Dominic Raab. Have I missed anyone? I quite like Jeremy Hunt and George Osborne, so not adding them. Your mileage may vary.

Fuck Disrespecting D Day.

Every Vote Counts

And if a woke Thatcherite feels like this, gosh knows what all you actual lefties reading feel. Your turn to screw up the economy now, anyway.

I still cannot quite believe that I’m about to vote Labour for the first time in my life, I still don’t trust them with the economy, but if they enact planning reforms then they might accidentally cause more economic growth than they take away. And that’s the risk I’m taking. Probably.

The Sekforde. Let’s hope I’m not adding that to my list of things to fuck by the end of this review.

Inside The Sekforde, Clerkenwell
© Copyright – Roast Dinners In London 2024

Entering The Sekforde was like entering a surprisingly old school pub in London, though one with a certain elegance and charm – it was looked after. Restored between 2015 and 2018, it hasn’t lost its feel of an older pub, though the basement room, which I assume you can hire out did feel rather nice, was quite airy and comfortable.

The beer choice wasn’t so charming – Neck Oil, Gamma Ray, Five Points XPA…yawn, you know, the usual “craft beers” that haven’t been craft beers roughly since the days when Hooch was “the drink”.

Wine, however, was decent and a glass of Malbec was a reasonably priced £7.00. Just wait until you see the price of the roasts – I noted that all pub profits are all donated to the Sekforde House Trust which is their educational charity.

Every Sekforde Counts

So. When was the last time you saw a roast dinner for less than £20 in central London?

Sunday roast menu at The Sekforde, Clerkenwell
© Copyright – Roast Dinners In London 2024

OK, I’m sure you can find one in a Greene King somewhere, but I mean in a proper pub – somewhere you’d actually recommend to someone who values flavour above piles of generic Brakes frozen doof (an unintentional spelling mistake but I like it enough to stay).

Topside of beef for £20.00, chicken or pork belly for £18.00, or a red wine braised lamb shank for £24.00. I actually fancied the lamb shank most, but ordered the pork belly for the novelty of ordering a roast under £20.00. Oh there was a nut roast too for you veggies out there that I’m sure read my meat-focused blog religiously. Plus a kids roast.

Pork belly Sunday roast at The Sekforde, Clerkenwell
© Copyright – Roast Dinners In London 2024

Huge portions of vegetables – it is almost as if they knew I had spent a week in Europe and therefore have pretty much just eaten bread and red meat.

So let’s start with the carrots – all large and very soft, and a little buttery too. As fun and floppy as Ed Davey.

Parsnips, 3 of them, again rather large – mine were a little al dente for my preferences, but otherwise pretty wholesome and packed plenty of flavour.

Every Second Counts

The green cabbage was pretty turd – indigestible and raw – as horrid as Nigel Farage.

Meme showing Farage is a cunt

Yet the red cabbage, not normally my favourite, was rather pleasant – fruity with just minor pollution of the gravy.

The standard 3 roast potatoes, which whilst not as bad as some previous examples I’d had, were rather stale – it was as if they had had 14 years in government, you could call them the Rishi Sunak of roast potatoes. Tired and stale, with a vague earlier attempt at being decent roasties. Yet nowhere near as bad as Johnson.

Close up of pork belly at The Sekforde, Clerkenwell
© Copyright – Roast Dinners In London 2024

A respectable homemade Yorkshire pudding, a little burnt-tasting on top, but quite fluffy also. No, I’m not describing a politician as fluffy. I don’t even know who the Green Party leader is.

The pork belly was a pretty solid effort. It was enjoyable, but a little on the cooked earlier side, crackling crispy, some fatty juice still around, but it had dried out enough to take the edge off the enjoyment.

And, finally, the gravy was watery and lifeless, if inoffensive. Yep, the Kier Starmer of gravy. You know this game.

The Sekforde Arms

Although The Sekforde Arms didn’t especially excel anywhere, there was nothing particularly to add to my earlier list of angst.

Plenty of vegetables, pork belly was decent enough. I did quite loathe the green cabbage, and the roasties were on the stale side – but neither pissed me off as much as Brexit.

Meme

My accomplice enjoyed her topside, and rated the roast a 7.75 out of 10.

I was happy enough, £18 for a half-decent roast – life could be a lot worse. My rating is a 7.05 out of 10.

No plan for this coming Sunday, though not having a hangover on Monday would be nice.

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Summary:

The Sekforde, Clerkenwell

Station: Farringdon

Tube Lines: Circle, Elizabeth, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan Line, Thameslink

Fare Zone: Zone 1

Price: £18.00

Rating: 7.05

Get Booking

https://www.thesekforde.com/

Instagrim

Loved & Loathed

Loved: It's a nice pub, pork belly was decent enough, loads of veg, friendly service.

Loathed: Roasties a bit stale, cabbage raw, beer choice boring.

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