Peak pub snacking looks like the bifana at The Macbeth - Review - London - The Infatuation
"The Macbeth is a pub for people who love pubs, but would also quite like to pretend they’re in sunny Portugal. Pints of Murphy’s are pulled behind the hulking, handsome oak bar, as shouts of “two duck” go up in the open kitchen, and plates of glossy, oil-tossed tomatoes land in front of people who wonder why they can’t get theirs to taste this good at home. photo credit: The Macbeth photo credit: The Macbeth photo credit: The Macbeth photo credit: The Macbeth Pause Unmute As you’d expect with a former member of the Four Legs team (of The Plimsoll fame) in the kitchen, the snacky Portuguese small plates are more Serious Restaurant than packet of Taytos and a sausage roll. But the room still feels like a Hoxton boozer where Fontaines DC once played, and spilt pints are par for the course. photo credit: The Macbeth Groups of friends valiantly forgo back support to hunch over plates of tasty rabbit piri piri—our go-to beer-soaking dish here—and a huge mural of a banquet scene from the eponymous play feels like a fittingly impressive backdrop to have the realisation that you’re an offal person now. Food is served until 11pm, and the later you arrive, the more fun the room feels. Which probably has something to do with the amount of palomas consumed and the feelgood power of great flan. RESERVE A TABLE Food Rundown Bread & Butter A quick scan of the rest of the menu tells you that extra bread for mopping will be key. It’s nothing special, but it does the job. And call it our extremely fragile ego, but there’s something infantilising about pre-buttering slices of bread. Spoken like the butter hoarder we are. photo credit: Sinéad Cranna Marinated Mushrooms, Cooked Ham Draped, seductive layers of thin ham cover the mushrooms entirely. If you don’t think ham can be seductive, you haven’t seen it be lifted—with an audible gasp—to reveal plump, juicy, tomatoey mushrooms beneath. A standout dish. photo credit: Sinéad Cranna Viva Grande Tomatoes Prepare for someone on your table to eyeroll at this dish name (and the £8 price tag) and mutter “they’re just tomatoes”. They are, but also, they’re exactly what you imagine a tomato should taste like at its sweetest, juiciest, perfectly seasoned best. photo credit: Sinéad Cranna Duck Offal, Onion Sambal, Pao Frito An offal dish that even the most offal-opposed diner could get behind. The duck is rich and buttery, but it’s the onion sambal—with tangy, spicy hits of caramelised onion—that had us coming back to this every few minutes. It’s a small portion, though. photo credit: Sinéad Cranna Bifana This sandwich and a pint is a perfect evening. The cheese is gooey, cheese-pull perfection, the sauce is like burger sauce in the best possible way, and the pork is juicy and charred. We’re big fans of the soft bread roll that soaks up all the paprika-infused oil. PlayMute video credit: Sinéad Cranna Rabbit Piri Piri, Chips You get a decent amount of rabbit and the chips are fat and fluffy. But we’d have liked a creamy sauce, perhaps an aioli, for the chips. PlayMute video credit: Sinéad Cranna" - Sinéad Cranna
