A (jolly fine) Night at the Coach and Horses, part II

I spent last night at the Coach and Horses enjoying a fabulous evening in the company of Henry Herbert, the head chef there. The night was organised by Slow Food London and consisted of a “show and tell” from Henry followed by a six course tasting menu. Not bad for thirty quid including wine!

“The Coach” clearly styles itself in the trendy gastropub mould. Although I have mixed feelings about a lot of the so called gastropubs in London, the owner here is clearly on the right tracks. The place is serious about the food it serves yet it still manages to retain the feel of a real pub. They have hit the jackpot in recruiting Henry to lead the kitchen, this guy is REALLY passionate about what he does. It must be great to have so much zeal for your working day. Not only that, the guy is still only 21 (yes 21!) so he has his whole career ahead of him. You can see him in the picture below showing off one of his home-cured hams that we later got to taste.

As well as curing their own hams, Henry told how the kitchen bakes its own fresh bread (both sourdoughs and soda breads) on-site everyday. This is in fitting with the kitchen’s ethos of buying in as little as possible in terms of finished product (he drew the line at making mustard!) and knowing the provenance of everything that goes on the menu. A blackboard in the pub proudly shows off a list of their suppliers , no Tesco economy mystery meat burgers here.

Of Henry’s tales, my favourite was about from where they source their pork. They buy whole carcasses of rare bread lop-eared pigs from Mary Holbrook , an “old lady” and artisanal cheese maker based near Bath, who also manages to raise a few extra-special pigs at the same time (they do say that women can multi-task..) . The pork is used throughout the pub’s menu, and also in the traditional pub snacks of pork pies and scotch eggs  which are available behind the bar – better than a pack of salt and vinegar crisps any day. To keep an eye on the bottom line, Henry has to make use of every bit of the pigs (“everything but the squeak”), even brining the head before picking the meat to make a piggy head terrine. Nice!

When he is not busy in the kitchen, Henry spends his spare time out in the woods foraging for wilds foods to add to his dishes. This guy’s enthusiasm is seriously infectious, and did I mention that he is still only 21? The lucky barsteward…….

The menu in full:

• Coach and Horses sourdough and soda breads
• Devilled hand-picked Portland crab
• Roast beetroot, shallot, goats cheese, hazelnut and watercress salad
• Assiette of Lop Pork: Scotch egg, hand-raised pork pie, ale-cured ham
• Home-cured venison bresaola with pickled beetroot
• Buttermilk pudding with Yorkshire rhubarb and shortbread

Everything was delicious. The devilled crab in particular stood out, as did the ale-cured ham. The ham was pretty salty from the cure, but it was served with a beautifully sweet homemade piccalilli which went perfectly. You can see the ham below along with a pork pie and scotch egg. A perfection of piggyness!

The evening was a resounding success, and I would definitely like to call back again to taste some more of Henry’s food. To be honest, I think a lot of what he is doing there goes above and beyond what I would consider good “pub food” standard – I dont expect all pubs to go to the trouble of curing their own meats. But hey, I guess I at least have something to aim for now!