CityLife

The Angel

The Angel - essential destination

June 2009

FOOD pubs are one of the few types of venue surviving the shrink as customers desert the licensed trade in favour of cheap supermarket deals and the playstation.  

If dinner at a restaurant in these times of austerity suddenly feels like a big ticket event, and a night on the town a costly contrast to the alternative quiet night in, nipping down to the local pub for dinner by comparison feels like an affordable treat, a little luxury that the budget can still stand.  

And so as bar chains go into administration and restaurants close down, so the food pub sector grows.
 

Not that The Angel was ever likely to suffer at the hands of the recession, even if outlets of a similar type found themselves at the front line.  

Escape route  

It’s a firm favourite, a de facto destination venue, situated in the former no-go zone north of the city centre that’s steadily being populated by pubs worth taking a detour for.  

The trip is, of course, made more appealing as an escape route out of the Printworks, which for many is the new no go area, particularly come Saturday night.  

The Angel, which was once the Beer House, reopened as a channel for the creative energies of former Chef of the Year Robert Owen Brown in summer last year.  

Owen Brown, who developed a reputation for fantastic food through tenures at Sam’s Chop House, Lounge Ten and latterly as chef-owner at The Bridge, furthered it at his new gastro pub, thanks to his commitment to quality local ingredients and culinary flair.  

Well kept selection  

But food isnt the only reason to visit this pub. As you’d expect, they take their alcohol as seriously as their dinners here, resulting in a well kept selection of real ales and wines. If you like the Marble Arch, Bar Fringe and the Crown and Kettle, this is another pub for you.