http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1d31p8q/the-engineer <b>The Engineer</b><br />London, 65 Gloucester Avenue, NW1 8JH, United Kingdom en http://trustedplaces.com/uploads/placepics/trustedplaces.comaPlacePic['name']}.140.jpg http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1d31p8q/the-engineer http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1d31p8q/the-engineer/1v9nc7
Review by meikejean

Rating: 1.00
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Today was a glorious Autumn Sunday in London - possibly our last for 2008 - and everyone was out and about making the most of the city, with smiles as bright as the sunshine. That's everyone except the staff at The Engineer, who were grumpy and rude and contemptuous from the moment we arrived.

We had a booking for a large group of 12, which we all understand can be more difficult to look after in terms of serving meals etc so we split our group into a table of 6 and table of 4 as requested - this pub doesn't do bookings for more than 10. The waitress 'looking after us' in fact told us that their kitchen can't handle tables larger than 6.

Our plan for the afternoon was to sit in the beer garden on this beautiful day, eat a yummy lunch (which it was), and share quite a few drinks with some friends but the staff at this pub seemed intent on making sure that didn't happen - we were sick of the treatment so left as soon as we'd finished lunch to go to another pub nearby for a few more drinks.

The staff at The Engineer don't seem to understand the concept of the hospitality business. They were anything but hospitable. I won't be coming back or recommending it.]]> Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:24:39 +0000 /review/uk/london/bar-pub/1d31p8q/the-engineer/1v9nc71666348537 meikejean 51.540005 -0.150389 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1d31p8q/the-engineer/1j6ax7
Review by chrisp

Rating: 4.00
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As should be perfectly apparent to any readers of my reviews, I am no photographer. It's pushing the limits of my meagre ability just taking an in-focus shot of an immobile plate of food three feet from my face, so whilst for many people a trip to London Zoo would provide a bounty of photogenic opportunity, the best I could manage was a slightly blurry shot of a group of lazy lemurs, barely recognisable behind thick chicken wire. I do possess other skills, however - not least the ability to sniff out a gastropub within half a mile, and so as the queue for the zoo stretched halfway down Albert Road at 1:30 on Saturday afternoon, I suggested we have lunch first and give the crowds a chance to dissipate.

The Engineer is a handsome, rather eclectically decorated pub in the handsome, eclectic neighbourhood of Primrose Hill. Staff were cheery and slightly hippified, in keeping with the area, and the menu followed suit, containing a variety of standard gastropub ingredients (chicken breast, cod, lamb) served with some less-than-standard sides (harissa, bok choi and mash, barley and grape salad). It was tempting stuff, and our rickety little corner table was beginning to feel very much like home as I sipped on a pint of Hook Norton ale and gazed out over the well-heeled crowd.

It being only lunchtime, and mindful of the looming £15 zoo entrance fee (that place goes up by £5 every year, I swear), we had one course each. As you can see, my lamb fillet was nothing if not a pretty plate of food, coloured by pomegranete seeds and flecks of chilli, and the meat itself was rich and tasty with nicely roasted potatoes. But the barley and grape salad was, as you might have already decided, perhaps just a little into 'weird' territory. Not quite enough to stop me wolfing down the whole lot, obviously, but nothing I would go out of my way to recreate at home or order again somewhere else. I need dishes like this though occasionally, just to be reassured that some people are brave enough to try new flavour combinations, otherwise you'd just end up being offered the same stuff everywhere. So well done The Engineer - your barley and grape salad is wrong, but don't stop trying.

We did eventually make it to the zoo, and despite the price rise it's still one of my favourite ways of spending a sunny afternoon. In summer they have a hugely overpriced BBQ set up near the penguins, serving many of the animals you're paying to go and see roasted inside a sesame seed bun. It's a slightly surreal experience, and one guaranteed to set your moral compass spinning, so I would recommend following your own gastro radar some place else if you're need of sustenance. There's no shortage of options, and I can thoroughly recommend the Engineer at the very least.]]> Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:16:03 +0000 /review/uk/london/bar-pub/1d31p8q/the-engineer/1j6ax71909593301 chrisp 51.540005 -0.150389 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1d31p8q/the-engineer/1k53x8
Review by gilka

Rating: 4.00
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Credit to my friend Gil who sent me there and also to Russel...
tasty!! but will cost you... (You are in Primrose hill after all...)
Nice place to sit by the window if you are lucky and look outside on this beautiful neighbourhood...
After this, climb Primrose Hill and watch the view!]]> Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:06:12 +0000 /review/uk/london/bar-pub/1d31p8q/the-engineer/1k53x81425060683 gilka 51.540005 -0.150389 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1d31p8q/the-engineer/1y1218
Review by Browners

Rating: 3.00
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On Friday I was lucky enough to be invited to lunch at the Engineer in Primrose Hill. Oli's always banging on about how good it is so I was very excited about seeing if it lived up to his big chat.

Sure enough it did.

We were lucky with the weather which meant we could sit in the garden under the shade of a tall Labernum chatting about cricket and loving the fact that we weren't at work. The menu was short but in a good way. We all would have loved to eat everything on it. I chose the salt beef with piccalilli for starter which was a colourful treat for the eyes but less flamboyant in the mouth. I was hoping for some piquancy but it never delivered. Still it was very pleasant, just not quite the vibrant starter it appeared to be at first sight.

My grilled pork T bone was a delicious piece of meat, beautifully singed by the grill and growling with a salty tapenade. Butter beans and peas swam around the bottom of the bowl complementing the texture of the pork very cleverly.

The others had burgers which looked spectacularly good. Massively meaty with impressive chunky chips on the side.

It all made for a very relaxing experience. Just what everyone wanted at the beginning of summer with the cricket unfolding down the road at Lords and at the end of another hectic week.

I'm looking forward to returning for a leisurely dinner later in the summer.]]> Wed, 06 Jun 2007 20:44:29 +0000 /review/uk/london/bar-pub/1d31p8q/the-engineer/1y12182013510277 Browners 51.540005 -0.150389 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1d31p8q/the-engineer/1s90b8
Review by lisas

Rating: 4.00
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I have heard people talking about the Engineer for quite some time so on Saturday I was in Primrose Hill and decided to have brunch there.

We had lunch in the pub as the restaurant was fully booked. I had two starters and they were delicious: Tequila cured organic salmon with corn blini and a mille foglie of tomato, ricotta and spinach. And a nice glass of prosecco, perfect!

The pub area is very nice: a nice bar, lively atmosphere, and very nice staff. They also have a garden, it must be beautiful as well as very busy in the summer.]]> Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:01:43 +0000 /review/uk/london/bar-pub/1d31p8q/the-engineer/1s90b81100228442 lisas 51.540005 -0.150389