A review of The Pelican in Notting Hill, London - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Food Tom Parker Bowles The Pelican review By Tom Parker Bowles - May 8, 2022 Tom is delighted to find redemption at a pub that has been pulled back from the brink. Review The Pelican The Pelican, perched on the end of Notting Hill’s All Saints Road, is one of those pubs that never seemed to get it right. I lived pretty much next door, for six years, and barely had a pint. It wasn’t rough, or naff, or dull or grim. Just, on the rare occasions it was actually open, really, really crap. It started as the ‘derelict’ pub, then became the ‘crack’ pub, the ‘busted’ pub, the ‘boarded-up’ pub, the ‘squatter’ pub, the ‘organic’ pub, then the ‘empty’ pub once more. We moved away. And still it sat, lonely and unloved, not so much gliding seabird as great white pachyderm. News, then, of its reopening a few months back hardly filled me with hope. The Pelican’s daily specials offer ‘carnivorous delight’. Image: @thepelicanW11 Sure, there’s the expensive facelift, all buttery leather banquettes, gleaming mirrors and a terse, St John-esque menu. Good luck, I thought. You’d have more chance of opening a ’Spoons in Clarence House than making this particular Pelican fly. But then friends began to sing its praises. And we were passing one night and thought, go on, what the hell. The place does look a lot better. Well, from what I can see, as we fight through a heaving scrum of ironic ’taches and asymmetric haircuts. But a mirror, proclaiming the day’s specials, has a ‘Stew/Mince’ section. Which makes me happy. Especially as it’s ‘mince on toast’, in what seems to be a nod to the great Quality Chop House. And what mince it is, richer than a Ladbroke Grove trustie – more sumptuous ragù than those greasy, gristly pellets we once forced down at school – slopped on a slab of sourdough beneath a flurry of Parmesan cheese. There’s more carnivorous delight with a splodge of ‘raw beef’, mixed with the anchovy-addled charms of Gentleman’s Relish. Oh, and some crinkle-cut crisps with which to scoop it up. Ham hock, deep fried in a macho wedge, is all soft, salty succulence, served with pickled red onion and a mess of splendid egg salad. Like a great British picnic, without the pitter-patter of rain on car roof and the drone of the A303. A butter lettuce salad is billowy in all the right ways, slicked with a sharp dressing, while trout, usually so overcooked, comes pink as a curate’s blush. It’s all so very English, but in the best possible way. Long may this Pelican soar. About £30 per head. The Pelican, 45 All Saints Road, London W11; thepelicanw11.com RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Kids can eat for free at these restaurants during October half-term How to make the viral negroni sbagliato with prosecco at home 7 Halloween recipes with serious hex factor Popular in Food Gabriela Peacock 14-day plan Anytime baked eggs May 23, 2021 Joe Wicks’ maple-glazed chicken thighs with Asian slaw June 6, 2021 Mary Berry is returning to TV screens for a brand new June 15, 2021 Eleanor Maidment My summer taste notes July 4, 2021 Uyen Luu’ s sticky mustard marmalade ribs July 25, 2021 Annie Bell’ s white peach bellinis recipe August 8, 2021 M& S has launched a new crunchy Caramilk-inspired golden chocolate spread August 24, 2021 Deliciously preserved pickle and jam recipes September 19, 2021 Gordon Ramsay’ s bang bang cauliflower October 3, 2021 Wow right now Clodagh McKenna’ s speedy family dinners October 24, 2021 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved