Gastro so good

Walking into the Salusbury is rather like going into one of those displays at a trendy museum - you follow a path and it wends its way through the exhibits. Enter on the left hand side of the Salusbury and you move between the tables and chairs of an unfussy, pubby sort of pub.

After a while you curve around the bar to the right, leave the open kitchen on your left and find yourself coming into the other 'leg' of this U-shaped space. This is the dining room, and the decor here is pure gastropub, odd chairs and plain dining tables.

The menu leans heavily towards Italy, portions are huge, and while prices are not cheap they are not unreasonable either. Many of the starters and pasta dishes come with dual portion sizes - pan-fried squid with chilli and rocket is a handsome and richly flavoured bowlful. There's a Borlotti bean and home-made sausage soup, a dish of papardelle with venison is very good indeed, plenty of slithery buttery noodles and a rich meaty sauce. A starter portion of this would pass as lunch for all but the serious eater. Also on offer is tagliatelle with fresh porcini, or perhaps a saffron risotto with celeriac confit appeals?

By gastropub standards the Salusbury has a long and ambitious menu, but it is a sign that they are getting things right when lunchers tuck happily into lobster brodetto with shellfish and squid and get a fine lobster perched atop a mound of shellfish. The £15 price tag is not cheap but it does represent good value. The roast leg of duck with lentils and cotechino is another good dish - although purists would probably insist that the duck was reheated 'confit' rather than roasted.

The lentils are terrific - buttery and earthy at one and the same time. Or how about steamed salt beef and chicken with horseradish? This dish works well and the horseradish is delightfully strong, in the makes-your-nose-run class. The wine list is sound enough, the real ales seem well kept, the service is cheerful and prompt, and the food is well-cooked, hearty and true to its Italian inspiration. You can eat pretty well at the Salusbury.

The Salusbury Pub & Dining Room
50-52 Salusbury Road, NW6 6NN