The New Rose on Essex Road

The New Rose is an establishment on the cool end of the public house spectrum.

When my mate and I took residence in its warm belly, the soulful sounds of Arthur Conley filled the room and vintage images of Viv Anderson in his Arsenal heyday adorned the walls.

The pub serves a range of ales and most pleasingly for me they offer Jamaica’s hoppy Red Stripe on tap.

Recently, they revamped their menu and by the manager’s own admission, stripped it down.

But less is more, as they say, and what The New Rose do, they do very well indeed. We started with bar snack favourite the pork pie along with salt and pepper squid, served with a delightful chilli sauce.

These snacks didn’t last long and in no time my pal was gorging on pepperoni pizza, while I indulged in their mouth-watering southern fried chicken and fries, served with a sensational homemade coleslaw. To round things off, I tucked into the squidgiest, warmest chocolate brownie imaginable with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top and my counterpart feasted conservatively on the strawberry cheesecake.

The New Rose is a cracking little drinking spot which serves simple tasty food, what more would you want from an Islington pub?