Link Food Review: Hop on down to Old Town for some 'Nosh'

I’ve got to admit the title ‘Nosh at the Hop’ doesn’t sound the most appetising destination for fine dining.

For some reason it fills my head with school dinners with slop shoved on a plate.

Don’t get me wrong. I love The Hop. It’s one of my favourite pubs in Old Town. It always has a great atmosphere and many a pint has been supped there. It’s just the word ‘nosh’ that doesn’t sit well.

But, I’m pleased to say, the food does sit very well indeed. The actual menu is perfect in its simplicity.

You’ve got the choice of sandwiches, mac & cheese, bratwurst, burgers, and loaded fries. Each has its own sub-options to the brim with a great variety of fillings.

There’s even a ‘Waffles’ section for those who have a longing for something sweet.

On this occasion I opted for the lamb burger. It was advertised as the ‘Lambassador’ (showing that the people behind Nosh can come up with a good name given half the chance) and it consisted of minced lamb burger, chimichurri sauce, provoleta cheese, pickles, and grilled peppers.

It was delicious and succulent. You’ve obviously got a chef at ‘Nosh’ who knows what they’re doing, with the ability to marry flavours to create a whole.

One of my colleagues, Barrie, went down the mac & cheese route. He went for the ‘Glastonbrie’ (the names keep getting better!). This consisted of Somerset Brie, butter panko breadcrumbs, crispy onions, and rosemary.

This was definitely a dish that went straight up the hit parade to number one. It took him a bit of time to calm down afterwards.

Finally, we had Karen. Our fussiest eater. She had the ‘Hail Caesar’ chicken sandwich. Although it’s a bit unfair for us to review this one as being a fussy eater she actually got rid of the Caesar bit and really just had a plain chicken sandwich. You can’t take her anywhere. She loved it anyway and said it was a really decent and lovely bit of chicken.

To share we had cheesy fries. Which in Karen’s words were ‘delish’. High praise indeed.

All in all, we had an excellent meal at The Nosh at The Hop. They know what they’re doing when it comes to flavour and tastes. Definitely a lot better quality than their name suggests.