North London Food & Culture

Best Sunday Lunch? The Colonel Fawcett


We’re not ones to blow our own trumpets, of course, but can we just say that we were mentioned in The Guardian today?

Anyway, back to work. The Colonel Fawcett is an obvious second candidate on our quest for Best Sunday Lunch. After all, our original review is the second most-read feature on The Kentishtowner this year (after the e.mono juggernaut, fact fans).

So the other week, upon invitation, we swung by early on a grey Sunday, sitting down at 1230 as the staff were frantically trying to finish laying tables and fitting their bookings in. The place is always rammed these days, manager Claire told us – and it’s you Kentishtowner readers they want to thank.


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21 year old head chef Dorian Kirk is proving masterful in his attention to detail: a starter of perfectly-seasoned ham hock with tiny fried egg, pineapple chutney and dandelion (a bargain £4.80) is, we think, one of his signature dishes (and we confess to having scoffed it several times now). Meanwhile, salt-baked beetroot with goat’s curd and herb salad was a work of art to look at, and light as a feather.

A main of rare breed pork shoulder with mustard sage stuffing, crackling and apple sauce was less dazzling: it worked as a quartet of flavours, but the meat alone was – dare we say – a tad dry?

So the outright winner was a mouthwateringly red rare topside of Herefordshire beef (above), which Dorian cooks sous-vide for three hours at 80 degrees: it simply melted, its flavour kicked into orbit by horseradish cream. The accompanying vegetables excelled too: a three root vegetable mash, cider braised red cabbage, kale – and potatoes roasted in duck fat.

To finish, we shared a plate of mini desserts including a delicious sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce, and a wonderful burnt cream with chewy almond biscuit (from an old El Bulli recipe, says Dorian). And it was all washed down with Argentinian Malbec (£6 a glass).

Our verdict? This is a serious Sunday Lunch – and not one to waste with a hangover (although it would probably do the job in that department too).

So we say it again: the Fawcett is one of the absolute best value eating options in North London.

Kentishtowner Rating: Overall 9/10 (the pork gets an 8/10). Sunday Roasts are £13.50. A three course sunday lunch for two with wine is about £65. 1 Randolph Street NW1

Words & Pictures: Stephen Emms


2 thoughts on “Best Sunday Lunch? The Colonel Fawcett”

  1. The Colonel Fawcett

    Just so people know, we heeded Stephen’s advice in this review and have change our pork offering to slow cooked pork belly which is delicious!

    Our only concern was this might have seemed like a fatty meat to have for a roast but it’s gone down a treat.

Leave a Comment

2 thoughts on “Best Sunday Lunch? The Colonel Fawcett”

  1. The Colonel Fawcett

    Just so people know, we heeded Stephen’s advice in this review and have change our pork offering to slow cooked pork belly which is delicious!

    Our only concern was this might have seemed like a fatty meat to have for a roast but it’s gone down a treat.

Leave a Comment

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The award-winning print and online title Kentishtowner was founded in 2010 and is part of London Belongs To Me, a citywide network of travel guides for locals. For more info on what we write about and why, see our About section.