Roman Road’s newest food venture is a nod to the 80s and NYC
The Angel and Crown Pub has a brand new food offering, but it is a little different from your typical East End pub grub, or indeed anything that you will find in Roman Road.
For the past couple of weeks, Patrick May has been busy hammering away at Angel and Crown’s brand new kitchen located in the pub’s basement.
Breaking Bread, owned and managed by May, will be serving their home comfort food, with a menu that contains many nods to New York street dining culture from Angel and Crown from November. They launched on Halloween weekend, and in the face of the new lockdown, they have deftly switched to takeaway and online delivery.
May explains that contrary to the name, Breaking Bread does not literally serve bread. Rather, it is about the spirit of ‘breaking bread’ together.
‘It’s a Biblical metaphor! It is all about neighbourhood dining, about this idea of everyone getting together and sharing delicious hearty food that isn’t worried about being fancy, it’s just something that you just want to tuck into.’
Melise Keogh, the owner of Angel and Crown, says that May’s ethos of affordable food and unpretentious, unapologetic comfort food offering suited her efforts to turn the once-notorious pub into ‘the living room of the high street.’
‘I was really open-minded when it came to what kind of food I wanted in my pub,’ she says.
‘The important thing is that it is good value for money, and an inclusive menu so there is something for everyone,’ she says, to cater to her varied clientele. There is also classics like steak and chips, and burgers, as well as American offerings.
The menu has classic comfort food at reasonable prices, with many options taking inspiration from the US. There is buttermilk chicken wings, mac and cheese and ‘crayfish sub’, a crayfish sandwich that is popular in Florida. Of course, such a menu would not be complete without a cheeseburger, with meat sourced from Peckover’s Butchers.
In some ways, this is an American-inspired equivalent of unpretentious, regional food. The pie and mash, if you will, of the United States.
But traditional pub grub fans need not fear, there will be a Sunday Roast, which will be on the menu this month, along with pub classics like steak and chips.
‘I just really wanted a type of food that is not on Roman Road yet,’ says Keogh.
And throughout lockdown 2.0, their menu will be available during the day and at dinner time for takeaway, including a Sunday roast option. Their menu will also soon be available for delivery through apps like Deliveroo, so watch this space!
If you like this article, you might also like to read about how the Angel and Crown became the face of a Coca-cola campaign.
