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Phone: 020 7723 2790
Open: Daily 12-11pm (10.30pm Sunday)
Like a dreamy French bistro: The Wellington's food, decor and service all hit the spot
The gastropubs march on. The Duke of Wellington in Crawford Street, Marylebone, used to be a curiosity, bedecked with all kinds of Wellington memorabilia, appreciated as a local although even its regulars admitted it needed a big clean-up.
In the past few months, it's been made over by the owners of The Brown Dog in Barnes. The main bar is now spaciously arranged, with a rich dark-red ceiling, grey-green paintwork, chandeliers, wooden floors, tables and chairs, candles, lilies, gilt mirrors ... The service is exceptionally friendly and charming, and a lot of customers are women together.
Upstairs, there's a lovely small dining room, seating just 25, with nice linen, candlelight, a working fireplace, and, as an ironic nod to the past, on the walls, framed letters written by the duke but newly computer-printed. Being in a place like this, very carefully designed but on a domestic scale, is so much more pleasing and soothing than the marble halls of any grand hotel or over-designed bar.
The food up and down is much the same, with a few fancier items only available in the dining room. The cooking, by Fred Smith, who has worked previously at Ransomes Dock and Galvin Bistro De Luxe, is very French and remarkably good for the modest prices: well-sourced, very professionally prepared. In some ways, it's like a dreamy French bistro, of the kind now almost impossible to find there any more.
A crab bisque at £6 was just delicious, full of shellfish flavour without being overpowering. Much is made of the pig here. On a previous visit, slow-cooked pig cheeks were succulent and rich; trotters appear on toast with fried quail's eggs and tomato sauce. Pork rillette was a not-so-fatty paté, served with mustard and gherkins and great crusty bread, for £6.50. What more do you need, if you're at all hungry?
A 28-day aged Longhorn beef sirloin steak might be served with mustard and tarragon butter and chips, for £17.50 downstairs, or with bone marrow, cepes and Alsace bacon, pommes mousseline and green beans, for £19.75, a top whack here, upstairs. But great wild boar sausages with mash are £9.50, and wine is fairly priced, with an excellent Primitivo at £15.75 a bottle. The first time I visited it the Duke of Wellington became a favourite. The only reason it doesn't seem to have been much noticed yet must be that most people who have discovered it hope to keep it to themselves.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
On my first visit, I couldn't believe what looked like a tatty old pub on the outside could be so warm and welcoming. The staff are all friendly and helpful, and the food is fantastic. I have tried scallops which I'd never had before, and they were beautiful, and the steak I had was cooked to perfection. The food is well presented and modern, without being over the top - I hate menus where I don't understand most of what's on offer!
I hear there is a new Head Chef - one Mr Smith has been swapped for another Mr Smith, previously 2nd chef, and equally skilled in the kitchen.
Keep up the good work.
- Carol Smith, St Ives, Cambs
We stayed around the corner from the Duke Of Wellington for the last fortnight of an 8 week trip around the UK and France. Loved the place.
Good food, good beer, good company, excellent service.
After a day's walking around London it was a joy to sit down outside, read the papers and knock off a couple of pints.
Various frineds and family memebers who met us there for lunch or dinner also liked the pub. There's some excellent eating estrablishments around Marylebone, but when as good as this is 20 yards from your front door, you don't need to go far.
- Rob Emanuel, Blackheath, NSW, Australia
All things change and nothing is immutable. I am saddened to see, however, that the Wellington is no longer the Dickensian nook I remember it to be from my visit there in 1993. Like a faithful old hound it might have been a bit on the shabby side in its later years but as the first London Pub I visited on my first visit to London and the United Kingdom, the Wellington has an affectionate place in my heart and memories. I took a salted beef Wellington sandwich with horseradish sauce, garnished with gherkins and was wont to have pints of Dry Blackthorn cider there.
- David A. Malone, Somerset, Massachusetts, United States
Look: in 20 years time it will be turned into something else and everyone will moan about how decent neighbourhood restaurants (which it deserves to become) are being ripped up to make way for whatever the retail trend du jour is. It is highly unlikely the the old Wellington was stuffed to the brim with knick-knacks and sticky carpet and £2.50 Foster's Super Cold since the day it opened, don't you think? And what goes around comes around - no doubt there will be a surge back to 'traditional neighbourhood pubs' in a few years... in the meantime, the 'old' welly was hardly a national monument, there are (still) far better traditional boozers in the area.
- Matt, London
I must admit to being slightly bemused by the rave reviews for the revamped pub. The locals have all but moved out of this place which I think neither gives the impression of being a welcoming pub or a casual dining restaurant- especially given the prices. On squeezing past tightly packed tables you are automatically assumed to be eating and get presented with a menu very quickly. My only meal here was a lamb dish where the meat had been carved off the bone and piled in a small heap alongside a tomato based mixed vegetable dish. The lamb was curling at the edges as it had clearly started to dry; quite strange and frankly perhaps better cooked and consumed at home, leaving the meat on the bone! My colleagues steak looked fine presented with just fries, looked simply overpriced.
This gastro pub trend is simply a way of charging full restaurant prices in a much cheaper setting; i.e. making the most money for the owner. Since Marylebone has an abundance of better eateries I'll be leaving the newcomers to drink and eat in ignorant bliss.
- Steve, Marylebone
I visited the pub a few weeks ago, as my grandparents used to own it in the early 50s, and is also where my mother was born. It was intriguing as I have only ever heard about it and found it really welcoming. My mum found it quite emotional as she hasn't been there since her early teens, and says that it hasn't changed. The leather boothes are still there in the resterant upstairs and the toilets as well downstairs, but the atmosphere is only one to imagine as how it used to be. I heard a story about a man that tried to steel from the pub (when my grandparents owned it), but didn't get very far as my nan knocked him out with an iron bar! Don't ever change the pub as it's a part of history, my family's history.
- Christie Kennedy-Carrington, Evesham, Worcs, England
The traditional pub, three cheers for the curled up sandwich and luke warm steak pie. Just what we want.
- Al Stuart, Ealing
I wish restaurateurs would open up restaurants in empty shops rather than ruining traditional pubs. In it's old guise this place had real character and was a place for everyone - now its virtually identical in look an execution to numerous other gastropubs. The march of predictable, safe uniformity continues unabated and not even Marylebone is safe. This is virtually a restaurant now - coming here for a drink is an awkward experience and the food, although good, can be found at this level of quality in scores of other places.
"W1's best secret"? I can think of 4 or 5 alternatives, thanks.
- Luke, London, W1
I have been to the Duke of Wellington several times now and find it a culinary joy. I couldn't agree with David and Ben more in that the staff are friendly, the drinks go down well, and the food is delicious. The atmosphere is very relaxed and I have overheard, on more than one occasion, punters of the former establishment commenting on how good the changes have been and how comfortable they feel. I think they've taken an "old man's" pub and created a new "superbreed" of gastropub. Don't be surprised to find this happening more and more as the Duke of Wellington has raised the bar.
- Kate, London
Used to be one of my local haunts when it was a traditional pub. I often pass it and wince at the poseurs that have taken it over, none of whom I recognise, probably not locals, but obviously more money than sense looking at the prices.
Alas, yet another example of how to effectively destroy a traditional English pub.
- Steve, Marylebone
I have to agree with the reviewer's sentiments on this fantastic new opening.
I've visited several times now and have found each trip as enjoyable as the last.
The food is cooked with authority and care, whilst the menu boasts dishes that are all too often hard to come by not only in London but in the UK as a whole.
Isle of White fresh Crab on toast is fantastic whilst the Game Pie served last weekend was bordering on historic.
The Duke is rather tricky to find but it's a welcome respite from the nearby crowds of Oxford Street and Marble Arch - on each and every occasion the staff make you feel relaxed, happy and comfortable - the only problem is leaving...!
- Ben Saxon, London
