The Princess of Wales, 1 Montpelier Row, Blackheath, London, SE3 0RL

After doing much research on restaurants in the Greenwich / South East London area, I have come to the conclusion that there is really not that much choice when it comes to wanting good food in the area. Of course, the research came in the form of (oh the stuff I endure) eating at these places, and reading other blogs which were specifically for this part of London.

One sunny weekend, we decided to expand that research to the Blackheath area. This is a heath, which, on a sunny day looks better than it does in the photo above, I’m sure.

When I did some research on this pub (as you do), quite a few of the people who recommended it said that there was nothing better than a big roast diner after a lovely stroll on the heath. Taking on that recommendation, we decided to do the same, and saw these ducks.

From the outside, this pub looks like one of those favoured by the locals, ie let’s not go in there unless you know someone. Stepping into the pub, however, everyone is friendly, and there is a huge, lovely, airy area at the back of the pub where lots of people looked like they were having a great relaxing time, having their Sunday dinner and reading the papers.

As that lovely area was full, we ventured towards the not so bright, but all the same, lovely area round the front of the pub. Sitting ourselves down at one of the larger tables (lighting is all important when you take pictures of your food), we noticed that the table next to us had 2 women, with a table full of leftover food.

The cheapo in me almost wanted to call off ordering, and just eat from them, but then again, one has to maintain some sort of social decorum, and eating leftover food from a stranger’s table, no matter how appealing that sounds, might not be considered acceptable social behaviour. To some.

Roast beef dinner, with Yorkshire pudding, mash potato, horseradish sauce, and vegetables £8.90

Very often, food looks better than it tastes. This was not one of those occasions, as no matter how lovely it looks in the picture, it tasted better. Much better.

Though the beef was ever so slightly chewy, it tasted fabulous. The roasting process must have taken some hard work, as the flavour of the meat shone through like a rainbow from a Care Bear’s tummy.

Together with the beefy gravy, the cheesy mash, and the crispy yet wonderfully soft Yorkshire pudding, this one plate of food settled us into Sunday, and the week after.

Possibly the best roast dinner I’ve had from a restaurant.

Roast chicken, roast potatoes, mash potatoes, bread sauce and vegetables £8.90

Until I had a bite of this, which was my bit of the meal. Chicken is so often overcooked (tough and stringy) or undercooked (uh oh).

This chicken, however, was perfectly done. If I had to set a benchmark for which chicken could be cooked to (ie 1 = cluck, 10 = perfect), this would be the benchmark. The meat was perfectly soft, fell off with the slightest touch yet was tender and soft to the bite. It tasted really good too, which is a surprise. The chef must have flavoured the meat before cooking it.

One downside though were the bits of feathers sticking out from the wing of the chicken, though it didn’t take more than a slight finger-flick to get them off. See, even the feathers were cooked to perfection.

Would I recommend this place? If you haven’t already found it, you have now.

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