MY PUB: William IV, north-east London

The striking pub with a great food offer never forgets it is a pub first and foremost.

Here, co-founder and co-owner Mike Harrington tells The Morning Advertiser all about this stand-out London pub.

The pub

On the day we told our previous employer we were setting up on our own, we walked past the pub and said it to each other ‘imagine getting that?’.

Jump forward six months and I found the pub listed with a local agent and arranged a viewing. We had connections to the landlord and were able to do a deal very quickly. It’s a beautiful old three-storey Georgian pub, off the beaten track of Old Street and City Road.

The publicans

Myself – Mike Harrington – and Lee Godwin run the pub, Lee does front of house and I do back of house.

We worked for Barworks for more than a decade and helped shape venues such as Mare Street Market and the Well & Bucket.

The trade

When we opened, we were wet-led and thought that would remain the case.

As things progressed, we became more and more known for our food to the point where food is now 40% of sales.

We’re very lucky to have both a vibrant community of locals who use the pub, as well as offices and workers nearby – so we benefit from both.

At heart, we are a community pub. We think we do a very good pint of Guinness and that is by far our biggest selling drink. In terms of food, our fish and seafood sell more than our burger.

The team

We employ in total 22 staff, nine in the kitchen, 13 front of house. We are very hands-on with the running of the business.

We prepare all of our fish on site and a good amount of our butchery, which I do, alongside menu development and new dishes.

Lee takes care of the front of house management and driving service standards.

The drink

We serve everything with no single focus on one thing. Instead, we try to offer a great range across all categories. We sell a lot of Guinness, but also a lot of wine, on the cocktails front our Coastal Martini is a big hit.

The food

It’s becoming a bigger reason why people are coming as our reputation has grown with the food side of things but it’s still fairly evenly matched. We’re a pub first and foremost.

In the main pub, we serve a menu of classic pub dishes and snacks like in house-pickled mussels and fried pigs’ cheeks. As well as a specials board that changes daily.

In the dining room upstairs, we offer a more formal dining menu with dishes like Tamworth pork chop, lemon sole & tarragon sauce, and braised venison on beef dripping toast.

The events

We don’t like to detract from what we do too much so don’t put on regular events. We avidly hate pub quizzes and things like that.

We host weddings and parties, and have done set menus for special events.

The future

We’re always trying to improve what we do every day. We plan to keep building the business, refine what we do and, when the right site comes along, we will expand.