Review: The Hare & Billet, Blackheath

Chicken is almost always at the bottom of my menu choices. It’s just… chicken. I sometimes get the feeling chefs put it on the menu with a big implicit label: “For Nervous Diners! The Safe Option!” because it tends to get put on a plate with some fairly boring accompaniments too. Then of course sometimes I go for the chicken anyway and it turns out to be delish. All depends on the chef.

This time I was drawn to it instead of the obvious Sunday roast beef by the promise of a chipolata and bread sauce. You don’t often see that on the 364 days of the year that aren’t Christmas Day! And the bread sauce was good; thinner and more full of herbs and spice than I’m used to, it made for a nicely restful relish for the beautifully roasted half-chicken. Waaaaay too much meat for just one of me, but it was very juicy, fully flavoursome and with skin crispy enough in places to be worth gobbling some of too.

Accompaniments were a mixed bag. The Yorkshire pud was okay, but without enough crispy poof to make the premier league. Roasties were a bit more chewy than crunchy of skin, but good textured ‘taters. Huge honey-roasted carrots I enjoyed; just enough funkiness in the honey to cut some of the sweetness. Good gravy.

I like the pub too. The Hare and Billet has a great spot overlooking Blackheath, with a rambling pubby interior and lots of friendly staff. Good selection of beers and gin, to be fair didn’t check the winelist. The roast beef looked okay too. Roasts were £16/£17 and I guess that’s a tad steep for the quality – this wasn’t the best Sunday roast I’ve had this year. But it was perfectly good, and the Hare and Billet is a good pub to have a short walk from home.