Cock and Bull

When you hear English food, what do you think? Fish and chips? Bangers and mash? Shepherd's pie? Yeah, us too. For our English World Cup visit, we headed over to Cock & Bull, a British pub in Midtown that opened sometime in the past year or so, to indulge in some British favorites.

A got a pint, and he opted for a Young's London Ale ($8) to celebrate the English theme. He really enjoys the Young's Double Chocolate Stout so he thought he'd see what one of their other brews was like.  He wasn't all that impressed by it. It was a lighter flavored beer, but it was crisp and refreshing. In the future he would get something else instead.

I decided to get a sandwich called the "British Bulldog" ($12.95). The menu said this was a "grilled banger, bubble & squeak, whole grain mustard on a toasted bread roll" and would be served with a side of hand-cut fries. My bubble & squeak experiment didn't turn out so well, so I wanted to see how the professionals did it. We also are big fans of bangers and mash, so I thought I would try this out to see how they went together in a sandwich.

The plate that I got seemed more like a plate of hand-cut fries with a side of a banger sandwich. Perhaps the menu should have mentioned that it was the size of a half sandwich, as it certainly seemed like half a bread roll. Crazy small portion size aside, the sandwich was pretty good. The banger had good flavor, whole grain mustard matched it well, and potatoes on a sandwich usually work in whatever form (mashed, fried, etc). I was expecting a mashed potato patty like the type I tried to make for bubble and squeak but these were more like loosely griddled potatoes. It tasted good. The fries were nice and crispy too. I liked them and the fries were the reason I walked out of lunch stuffed. It certainly wasn't from the banger sandwich.

A got the fish and chips ($19.95). The menu said this would be "ale battered cod, thick hand cut chips, and tartar sauce, served on a bed of mushy peas with bacon." Often, fish and chips comes with more than one piece of fish, but not here. We had seen a photo online of this dish with only one piece of fish and thought the person had eaten the rest before taking the picture. Not the case. 

The fish was fairly standard - white and flaky in a thick batter. But the real star there was the tartar sauce that accompanied the fish. We're not sure but it tasted like it was freshly made in-house. We really liked the tartar sauce. The chips weren't bad, but they were less like skinny fried potatoes (like the standard fast food kind) and more like steak fries. They had no distinct crisp to them, and they were soft and full of potato. Also, this must be the World Cup challenge of mushy peas after this and our Australian adventure. That said, the mushy peas were really, really good. They were very fresh and clean tasting.

The food at Cock & Bull was good, and it seems like the type of place where you could go, hang out with some friends, have a beer, and catch the game. It wasn't overrun with tourists and we were grateful for that break. But while the quality is good, the food is a bit pricey for the amount you get. We didn't leave hungry like after our Japanese excursion, but what we were really full on was just potatoes.

Cock & Bull, 23 W. 45th Street (between 5th and 6th Aves), in Midtown.