A Birthday Roast at The Alma Tavern

About two weeks ago we celebrated Rich's birthday, originally I had intended for it to be a barbecue but the weather had other ideas. All very well writing this now looking out onto blazing sunshine, where were you two weeks ago 27 degree sunshine? Anyway I quickly had to think up an alternative plan and so I thought I would take a punt with the Alma Tavern. Rich and I used to go there quite often for dinner about 4-5 years ago when we first started dating as it was very near his flat at the time and they did brilliant blue cheese and bacon burgers.  After he moved we didn't go to the Alma much after that, I reckon it had been a good two years since my last visit and I had heard good things about their roasts and so I decided to book a small group of us in for Sunday lunch. The Alma has had a bit of a refurb since my last visit, their logo and bathroom definitely have a hint of The Great Gatsby about them, how on trend of them.

inside the Alma

With a choice of pork, beef, lamb, chicken and something for the Vegetarians there is also the option of ordering off their standard lunch menu in case a roast doesn't tickle your fancy. I went for the pork belly whilst Rich went for the lamb chops roast. Most of us also ordered a starter, in fact all the same starter of deep fried baby squid with chilli and lime dip, and thank goodness we did because the roast was a bit of a wait. 

crispy squid

squid in detail

Our squids arrived pretty quickly much to our delight, we had hunger big time. The squid was crispy, well flavoured and perfectly cooked, we were very impressed, the micro herbs were a nice little touch too. I would definitely order this dish again as it was a good enough portion to keep us going until the roast arrived.  Now this was the only down side of our lunch at the Alma Tavern, the wait. I am pretty sure this was a mistake though with where our order was placed in the lunch orders. We were waiting almost an hour for our roasts to appear, the two of our party who didn't order starters were almost experiencing mirages of food. Having said that once the roasts arrived the staff were very apologetic and throughout our meal were extremely efficient and friendly.

pork belly roast

more pork belly

sharing veg

lamb chop roast

The Alma Tavern do a great roast, the best I've had since the Townhouse roast, which still pips it to the post, but this was a good runner up. The pork belly was a good sized portion and the meat fell apart and was nice and juicy, which is exactly how I want my pork belly to be. I must also make a point of praising the parsnips, I am not sure what they did to them but I actually ate all of mine which I never do. These were soft yet slightly crunchy, I have a feeling they may have been roasted with some honey but I cannot be entirely sure, either way they were really tasty. Rich's lamb chops were pink and well seasoned with rosemary, in fact everyone had a great portion of meat which a lot of pub roasts can stint on. We were so full by the end we couldn't even look at the dessert menu. 

I really recommend the roast at the Alma, the price is good for the amount of food you get, my pork belly cost £12 and the lamb was £14 but Rich and I didn't eat anything else for the rest of the day, it even fueled us through the Goldfrapp gig at the Trinity in the evening. So if you fancy a roast do check out the Alma you won't be disappointed. I also have a feeling their evening menus would be rather delicious and I intend on visiting again to find that out. You can see a show at their theatre, have a drink or eat something off their menu check out what they have to offer on their website.