Why The Raglan is a St Patrick's Day must. Plus: a Ukrainian food special
Also: the verdict on the Red Lion's small plates, Sawmill Stratford reviewed, inside Burnt Faith Brandy House and No.23, Leytonstone's new artisan cafe
Hope you enjoy today’s issue - a day early due to holidays. Sláinte!
With my partner originally hailing from rural Northern Ireland, St Patrick’s Day is a big deal for us. Last year we braved the crowds for the rowdy annual festival in Trafalgar Square; other times we’ve enjoyed events at the buzzing Irish Centre in Camden. But closer to home, it’s surprising how few independent Irish watering holes exist in our part of East London.
Sure, there’s Leytonstone’s capacious chain pub O’Neill’s, but the two bars we gravitate to mostly are Islington’s Homeboy and wildly popular Stokey institution the Auld Shillelagh (its sister pub, WB Yeats in Finsbury Park, also deserves a mention for outstanding roasts).
Late last year The Raglan opened on Shernhall Street. It’s just across Lea Bridge Road where Leyton morphs into Walthamstow, a few minutes’ walk from Whipp’s Cross. Formerly known as the Lord Raglan, it was taken over by Dublin-born Muireach Shankey, along with his brother Eoghan and chef Sacha Henry, co-owners of Shankey’s in Hackney. The simple idea is note-perfect Guinness, regular trad sessions and a mix of Indian and Irish-inspired dishes. Oh, and an enticing chalkboard list of Irish cocktails, too.
It was these that we were drawn to last Sunday on a spontaneous pre-St Patrick’s Day visit. Eschewing a Dublin Sour or Irish Coffee, the wittily named Barry’s Tea-groni caught our eye (for the uninitiated, it’s an Irish brand a little like Yorkshire Tea but stronger). We were intrigued - and a little sceptical - how this combination of flavours would work out. The barman assured us they only steep the gin briefly in tea, otherwise it would dominate too much - and sure enough, just a wee hint was discernible in what was a banging ice-cold negroni for a tenner.
Perched at the bar, we noted the strikingly retro Guinness LED tap box, pictured above, which the barman said Guinness owners Diageo more usually install only in their Dublin pubs, underlining the authenticity of the place. Naturally, we ordered a pint to test its prowess. My bloke Colin - a man who knows his stouts - declared it “one of the best.” High praise indeed.
The other secret weapon at The Raglan is the creative “spuds and spice” menu, which on our visit - Irish roasts aside - included small plates such as spiced whitebait, saag anna and red prawns with lime pickle butter. There were no Achill oysters, alas, but one item was flying out: an oxtail masala pav (or bun), at £9. This we ordered: baked and stuffed with slow-cooked meltingly tender meat, it was served resting in its own broth along with a hunk of roasted bone marrow. A delicious morsel, washed satisfyingly down with Guinness: The Raglan is doing things a bit differently - and so far it’s winning.
Other ideas for St Patrick’s weekend
Francis Road’s Loop Dining - now resplendent with downstairs counter dining - is hosting Irish bakery pop-up Dulse on Saturday 15th March. Named after the seaweed, it’s the brainchild of food stylist and chef Katie Smith, whose impressive CV includes E5 Bakehouse. Join the undoubted queues to gorge on Irish apple cake, chocolate Guinness cake, barmbrack (fruitcake), gravy ring (doughnut) and Soda farl. 9.30am until sell out.
The Leyton Engineer has pulled out some top craic for this Sunday 16th, with a gig by the Green Flames, an Irish folk group based in East London who’ll be doing a set comprising Pogues covers, pub classics and “folk standards”.
Original pizza dons Yard Sale have a St Patrick’s “spice bag special” collab with chef @whatwillycook. Honouring what they call “the much-loved Dublin takeaway delicacy”, it’s topped with chicken tenders, chips, peppers and white onion with Chinese salt and pepper seasoning. There’s also a chippy curry mayo dip. Available until March 25th in Leytonstone and other branches.
Leytonstone Irish theme pub O’Neill’s - historically known as The Green Man - have a busy day’s schedule of live music and Irish dancers from 2-8pm on St Patrick’s Day itself, Monday 17th. The food menu features Irish-themed dishes from spice bags to colcannon poppers (croquettes).
And if you want to delve into the country further, I write regularly about Ireland: three travel articles you might enjoy are my recent guide to Portrush, on the Causeway coast, in Conde Nast Traveller; how I tried to learn Irish on a pub tour of mountainous Connemara for Sunday Times Travel; and the story of the Finnish-style Hotbox sauna on Benone Strand for The Guardian.
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Behind this week’s paywall:
Reader Lucy Craig on exploring her Ukrainian heritage locally - plus her guide to Ukrainian food
Lucy’s round-up of the best local Ukrainian restaurants, including Sawmill Stratford
The Red Lion Leytonstone - do its small plates live up to the hype?
Burnt Faith Brandy House reviewed: what to eat, and what to drink
No.23, Leytonstone’s tiny new artisan cafe and arts space
Pop-ups, one-offs and juicy titbits for the coming week
Please note: paid subscribers can enjoy an extra-long issue today as I’m taking a one-week break to mark the 10th anniversary of Leytonstoner. There’ll be no issue next Friday, March 21st but I’ll be back refreshed and raring to go with the next newsletter on Friday March 28th.
Red Lion: a debrief on the small plates
When visiting pubs, cafes or restaurants with an intent to write about them - always anonymously (unless stated otherwise) - I genuinely want the experience to be one that adds something to living in this area.
Thus, setting foot inside the rebooted Red Lion, I was cautious: as Leytonstone’s most famous pub, there was added pressure on this relaunch for the food not to disappoint.