The Talbot

When you’ve walked past a pub a certain amount of times without going in, it can feel like you probably never will. And we’re not talking about the types of pubs that even the Krays might have been scared to show their faces in, but the ones you just haven’t given a chance. Maybe it’s the colour, maybe it’s the street or maybe it’s the apparent lack of charm. The Talbot in De Beauvoir was all of these things to us until on a windswept Sunday we went crrrrazy and stopped in. ‘Two pints of humble pie please barkeep’ is what we should have said as we inspected the pub from our place at the bar and realised we’d got it all wrong. But we didn’t, we got Kirin instead.

The Talbot is a large, square pub that feels like it was designed for weekend afternoons. There are big chesterfield sofas for slouching, an open fire to get the place dozy and plenty of large dining tables for groups to spread roasts, papers and board games across. Our favourite feature is the huge double windows at the front of the pub that provide the place with all the light it needs and drinkers with a view onto a row of aspirational De Beauvoir houses. The Talbot even has its surprises. On the second level, an outside terrace suntrap overlooks the street, providing plenty of space to appreciate good weather. How did we ever just walk on by?

The beer list is adequate if not inspiring (Kirin, Peroni, Grolsch on draught) but there is a good variety of wine by the glass. And the menu is a notch above simple pub food. We sample the roast – good trimmings, solid beef and a whopping great Yorkshire on top – but we are impressed by the likes of cod and caper fish cakes, miso and soy glazed scallops and Billingsgate fish of the day. We like the venue, we love the terrace and the food menu intrigues us. Let’s just say we won’t be ignoring The Talbot anymore.