Public House Group, the team behind some of west London's most talked-about pub-restaurants, has crossed the river of exclusivity for the first time and landed in Farringdon. Their new opening, The Horses, occupies a former pub on a site once home to the Coach and Horses and, more recently, The Coach — and they've stretched a bar and restaurant across four floors of it.
The neighbourhood was already a serious eating destination. The Eagle, often credited as the original gastropub, is close by, along with Quality Chop House and Jackson Boxer's recent Vesper. The Horses slots straight into that company, and since opening in autumn it has been packed — prime-time dinner slots are reportedly already scarce, and even a Monday table gets a two-hour turnaround with the next sitting queuing up.
The formula will feel familiar to anyone who knows the group's other sites: unfussy British classics, executed well, in a room with atmosphere to spare. The difference here is a stronger emphasis on fish. Start with oysters — Jersey, Carlingford, Achill and Lindisfarne are regulars, though the off-menu Scottish Cumbraes are the ones to ask for — plus a cold martini. Each comes with a small vial of the house hot sauce.
Mains arrive simply plated: a sweet, flaky bone-in monkfish, or a half or whole lobster drenched in garlicky butter. Carnivores can opt for the onglet in shallot sauce, served rare unless you say otherwise. Portions run small, so order generously from the sides — the fries are well seasoned, but the standout is the peas, grown on the group's own Cotswolds farm and served in a buttery wine sauce. Save room if you can for the brown butter and almond cake, though you may end up eating it in the ground-floor bar if your table gets called back.
That ground floor is a proper pub, heaving with after-work drinkers on weekdays. Climb to the first floor and the mood shifts: a dark, candlelit dining room with tables close enough to feel sociable rather than squashed. Floor two holds another dining area with a chef's table, and the top floor is reserved for private dining.
For travellers, this is a good reason to build an evening around Farringdon rather than defaulting to Soho or Mayfair. Book well ahead — realistically weeks out — or aim for an early or late slot, and treat the ground-floor bar as your fallback for a drink and dessert.
