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Phone: 020 7242 4747
Open: Mon-Thurs 11-11.30, Fri 11-midnight. Sat & Sun closed. Kitchen open Mon-Fri noon-3pm, only snacks in evenings.
Gastro-free zone: the solid fare at The Hat & Tun is a trip back in time
The public-school publicans Tom and Ed Martin have built up quite an empire of admirably renovated pubs, from The Gun in Docklands to The Botanist in Sloane Square. Other houses in the chain include The Prince Arthur in Dalston, The White Swan in Fetter Lane, The Well in St John Street and the Empress of India, Victoria Park.
The company has a natty beer-mat, divided into thirds on each side, neatly advertising all six of its places. There will have to be room for a seventh.
The latest opening, The Hat & Tun, just off Hatton Garden, has had its fabric beautifully restored, like the others. Indeed, there’s an elegant style to the Martins’ pubs that makes them easily recognisable from the street, with fine new paintwork and a classy typeface.
The Hat & Tun had lately been trading under the equally rough pun of The Deux Beers but this, it seems, was its original Victorian name. It’s quite small — just two rooms opened into one, dominated by a pedimented mahogany bar. There’s a real fire around the back and the furnishings feel right — secondhand chairs and tables, well-spaced, a Chesterfield sofa and a hall porter’s chair, and an easy mix of chandeliers and modern Tom Dixon pendant lamps. The rooms have pleasing spaciousness — Victorian dignity without the clutter.
Both the limited opening hours and the food they serve have been dictated by the location. The Hat & Tun is “not a gastropub or a destination pub as such”, says Nadia Tremayne, for the Martins.
Perhaps it’s a pub-pub? Certainly they serve a limited, old-fashioned pub menu: sausage rolls, scotch eggs, prawns by the pint, pie and mash, doorstep sandwiches with crisps on the side ...Maybe it’s not what the cardiologist commends but it’s solid fare, a trip back to a time before lamb shanks were braised and aubergines chargrilled. Having a pork pie as a starter (£4) might seem gross but it was a quarter of a really fine specimen, with crunchy pastry and an impressively meaty filling, served with vigorous homemade piccalilli. Maybe think of it as a robust pâté en croûte?
Potted shrimps (£5) came hot in a little ramekin, the butter melted, the brown shrimps juicy and flavoursome. We were just saying how nice it was to have them not overspiced when dipping a crust into the goo at the bottom of the pot produced an overpowering mouthful. The spices had sunk to the bottom. Cottage pie (£7.50) would be enough for lunch on its own, with a cheesy mash and some sticky mince, well spiced up, with peas in the mix rather than on the side. It seemed a better bet than the beef pie (also £7.50) which delivered a lot of unremarkable pastry for a relatively small amount of meat, served with mash and a thin parsley liquor. The Brit thing can be overdone — there’s a T-shirt for aspiring restaurateurs.
To follow, there’s a good apple pie with cream (£5). Or a fair British cheeseboard — Stilton, Cheddar, a goat, a Brit brie, served with quince paste, some slices of Granny Smith and oatcakes (£7, or £9.50 with a glass of ruby port).
Although there’s well-kept beer (Adnams, £3 a pint), where the Hat & Tun differs from most trad pubs is in having a serious wine list, opening at £14 a bottle, featuring rustic blends from the Martin Brothers’ own Domaine des Fontaines in Languedoc at £15, and progressing to some appealing items at not too painful prices (the reds culminate in a Faiveley Mercurey at £34). A good place to drink, then, if an old-fashioned place to eat. But if it came to more modern food, what would be the point in going head to head with the Eagle on Farringdon Road?
When a pub turns gastro, there are always locals whingeing they liked it better before. Here, no one could complain. The Hat & Tun: not just a pub, it’s a pub-pub.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
