A new pub launches two minutes’ walk from Bank station in the City next week offering £6 pints of Guinness and lobsters fresh from the display tank.
The Albatross has taken an ex-Brown’s – originally the Commonwealth Bank of Australia – on Old Jewry, and is the first pub from Wild Group founders George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev, who also run Wild Izakaya opposite.
Crispin Sugden, the group’s head of operations, says: “When we asked ourselves what was missing in the City pub scene, it kept coming back to the same thing – somewhere British-led, with proper food, a different selection of draft that wasn’t found on every font, great cocktails, wine and a bit of fun.
“There are good pubs with sport in the City, but none of them really do food and drink to a different level, and none really harness seafood. Additionally, we aim to be amazing value.”
The Albatross can accommodate up to 400 guests (not all seated) over two storeys, and has a private dining room seating 14. There will 15 beers on tap as well as cocktails and wine, along with TV screens to show major sporting events.
In addition to lobster and Alaskan king crab, the food menu runs to smoked mackerel and Devon crab toasts, seared scallops with burnt butter and seafood bisque, roast sea bass, pan-seared turbot with beurre blanc and chicken schnitzel.
Chris Dunlop, previously of New York’s celebrated Spotted Pig, is the ‘landlord’ alongside ‘landlady’ Alice Tayler, who worked for Tom Kerridge for almost 10 years. The kitchen is run by chef Chris Piorkowski, formerly of the Wild Group’s Goodman steakhouse.
