Gastropub is now a term so overused as to be meaningless– every corner bar with a kitchen is suddenly infused with haute-cuisine, we are supposed to believe.
However, there originally was, and is still, such a place as a Gastropub– a classic English watering hole offering fine, gourmet food. Perhaps fittingly, an excellent example of this category has become an institution in quiet, cream-white Central Belgravia for several years: The Thomas Cubitt.
Named for the famed English classical architect and builder, the Thomas Cubitt faces the middle-stretch of orderly Elizabeth Street with large glass doors which look into the open ground floor, with an elegant oak-paneled bar. Here, the menu features fish-and-chips, a beef burger, and Cumberland sausages and Steak-and-Guiness pie, below a chili squid starter and beet root salad, and alongside a long list of Champagnes. At the bottom is a Sunday Roast list of lamb. There are several fish offerings as well.
There is an even-more formal dining room, a white-tablecloth chamber serving venison, partridge and duck breast. While this is likely as much for the well-heeled neighbors as the bar area itself, it is in the street front space that the Thomas Cubitt is most enjoyable: truly a classic pub, with draft lager on tap and lively local crowd, but with delicious, beautifully-presented British comfort food in a clean, comfortable space brightened by the glass wall facing the street.
The Thomas Cubitt 44 Elizabeth St Belgravia, London SW1W 9PA 020 7730 6060 www.thethomascubitt.co.uk Tweet
