Restaurant Review: Crown & Shuttle, Shoreditch, London

Meeting a friend for lunch between our offices one day I suddenly realised it was Thanksgiving and that I quite fancied a turkey sandwich – actually, what I would have preferred was a full-on Thanksgiving dinner but didn’t think we would find anywhere at short notice that didn’t have long queues!

 

He suggested a pub just up the road from us on Bishopsgate called the Crown & Shuttle, which indeed had a special Thanksgiving menu. It was more what I would call a not to Thanksgiving, eg a cheeseburger and fries, or Maine lobster mac and cheese; I had the closest thing they offered to a Thanksgiving dinner, the turkey schnitzel with bashed sweet potato, maple and pecans, dill pickle and peanut slaw for £12.

 

The dish was so-so – relatively plain and straightforward – but also a bit different which is always good. It’s a nice pub, with exposed brickwork and industrial-chic with a good selection of local and foreign beers. The website boasts a “secret cocktail bar upstairs that make you feel like you’re in an awesome house party” though we never made it upstairs.

 

The regular menu isn’t extensive – three of the seven ‘big plates’ are burgers but the ‘small bowl’ options look intriguing – cauliflower cheese croquettes with tomato jam, anyone? And if I’d seen the peanut butter and chocolate tart for dessert…