The main dining room at The Parakeet
What can you tell us about the Parakeet?
It's a new Kentish Town pub and restaurant that's taken over the space that used to be The Oxford pub on Kentish Town Road. Behind the pub are Steve Ball and Riz Shaikh of The Columbo Group, who are also the people behind Camden's Jazz Café and The Blues Kitchen. This is quite the departure from their previous venues though, as they're keeping it all very much as a local pub with a notably great dining room.
In the kitchen is ex-Brat chef Ben Allen as Head Chef whose menu, similar to Brat, focuses on cooking over fire. He's joined by another Brat alumnus, Sous Chef Ed Jennings.
Where is it?
If you're coming by tube (or Thameslink) you'll find the main Kentish Town station just a couple of minutes' walk from the pub. Kentish Town West is about a 10-minute walk away.
Here's a look at the pub part of The Parakeet.
Where would we meet for a drink before/after?
You should definitely come to the pub first. The building is split into two very distinct sections - the pub for drinking and the dining room for... dining. This is pretty much how any proper gastropub should be, although it's not as common as we'd like, so it's particularly pleasing that The Parakeet manages to pull off being both a great place for a drink or what's already easily one of the best places to eat in the area.
Slightly out of shot in the photo above are a couple of booths to the right, each seating four. These are the prime seats in the pub if you can grab them.
How much has it changed from its previous incarnation?
The pub has had a notable refit keeping much of the main structure intact, but it's the restaurant, looking at photos of the previous look, that's changed the most by adding a semi-open kitchen at the back. They've also put in backlit stained glass windows to the wall of the kitchen and the roof (as well as at certain points in the pub). As a result, the dining room has a striking look when you first head in (see the photo at the top of this page). It's a really beautifully done dining room and was just buzzing on the night we visited.
Where should we sit?
If there are four of you, the booths by the window are the best bet, but anywhere's good with the tables nicely spaced out. There are two stools by the open kitchen if you really want to get close to the action, but you'll have to see if they're free on the night.
The menu's up on the wall and changes regularly.
On to the food, what can we expect?
The menu changes regularly, although you will see the odd snack and side there as staples. As you can see from the photo above, it's split into snacks, small plates and larger plates. It's fairly straightforward to get everything as sharing plates, although everything also works well if you'd prefer to go for a more traditional three-course affair.
As ever, we recommend ordering something immediately while you're mulling over the menu, and here the potato bread and the croquettes fall into that category.
Spider crab croquettes (£4.50)
The croquettes will probably change from time to time, but those spider crab versions are a really strong start. After that, we'd say a quick roam around the snacks and small plates section is your next stop. Two to three plates will do fine, as portions are generous, and here's a taste of what's on offer.
Grilled lettuce and shrimp head butter (£11). They tell us: "We wood-roast our shrimp heads aggressively in butter, chilly, shallots and garlic until brown. Then we let it infuse for 24hrs and blend. We use fresh baby gem lettuce which is from flourish farm and cook on the fire, direct on the flame via the grill and basted with the butter till cooked." It is definitely worth the effort.
Wild garlic, tropea and broccoli (£10) - making the most of the fleeting wild garlic season.
Braised leeks, pecorino sauce and smoked mushrooms (£11) - probably the standout dish of the night and a must-order. That pecorino sauce is phenomenal.
You'll note that there's a strong plant-led offering available here (albeit with a few touches like that shrimp head butter) so if you're going all-veg you should feel well looked after.
After those plates, two mains will be more than enough. So, of course, we went with three.
Squash, beans and blood orange (£15). For that squash, they told us: "We cook the squash on the fire till soft and scoop out the flesh. We then add it to the beans that have been cooked in our house vegetable stock infused with blood orange and carrot, spices and fresh herbs."
Mutton, cime di rapa, tamarind glazed fennel (£22). The meat comes from Matt Chatfield (the Cornwall Project) and has the deep flavour that well-reared mutton can provide.
Ox cheeks and mash (£29) - yes, you can eat this with a spoon (if you like).
And while you may not need more potatoes with that ox cheek and mash, we'd say to throw caution to the wind and order this anyway.
Confit potato (£5.50) - it's hard to resist a confit potato on any menu, but this is the first time we've seen a circular version. Swimming in butter too.
And what about dessert?
Much like the main menu, this will change regularly. We noted that a few things had already been switched from the previous week (they had a rhubarb and buckwheat tart previously). That said, both of the desserts below were exemplary, with the kouign aman sourced from great local bakery Kossoff's, just down the road from the pub. If you're visiting for lunch, you owe yourself a quick trip to that bakery while you're in the area.
Kossoff's Kouign Aman, with brown butter custard (£7). The brown butter elevates the custard significantly.
Chocolate Torte (£8). For this, they use 64% chocolate and it's served with a vanilla Chantilly and grated hazelnut cream. We very much approve of the use of Chantilly, a much better option than creme fraiche.
What about drink?
You can, of course, just have pints from the pub if you fancy, but there's a great wine list too, which has a focus on biodynamic and low-intervention wines.
On our visit, wines started at £22 which is really great value when compared to pretty much anywhere else in town (that wine was a Monastrell from Familia Castano in Spain). There are several options under the £35 mark (even the ubiquitous Chin Chin is £25) and sub £50 there are lots to choose from, with many wines from smaller producers. If you're splashing out, though, there is a Californian pinot noir on the list for £200 if you want to treat yourself.
There are cocktails too, on the main pub list so make sure to take a look at that menu if you fancy something other than wine. The cocktails are all classics - Negroni, Paloma, Rum Sour and more - and are in the £9.50 - £10.50 range.
Overall thoughts
The second you step into the dining room at The Parakeet, there's a feeling that this is a pretty special place. It looks fantastic, like the kind of pub you just wish would open near you. But we also think it's a place that's well worth making a trip across town to. Everything delivered to the table was uniformly excellent. There are clear influences from the chefs' time at Brat but it really feels like they're striking out with their own take. An extremely strong opening right out of the gate, we think this will be a massive success.
More about The Parakeet
Where is it? 256 Kentish Town Rd, London NW5 2EN
How to book: Book online
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @the_parakeet
Hot Dinners dined as guests of The Parakeet. Prices correct at time of publication.
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