Kmflett's Blog

35 years of the Eagle: it started a democratic trend in pub food still too little copied

The Eagle Pub in Farringdon Rd, just outside the Square Mile of the City of London is 35 years old this January. One of the co-founders Michael Belbin (who is now over 70 ahem..) gave an interview to the Financial Times (16th Jan 2021) on its 30^th birthday in 2021

I worked for some years in the 1990s in the old BT Fleet Building down the road (on the other side of Holborn Viaduct) in Farringdon St. It was an engineering monolith stretching over an entire block in the City, so much so that I accumulated several offices in it. It’s since been knocked down all the network stuff re-routed, and a whole new building has arisen in its place.

Anyway that meant that while not a regular at the Eagle I certainly frequented it in the afternoon for lunch from time to time. I haven’t been in recently but I pass by on the bus on occasion and it always looks busy still.

The 30 year anniversary was spun as the Eagle being the original gastro pub. Well, yes and no.

As Belbin didn’t quite underline in the FT piece the Eagle was and is democratic. A turn up, no reservations(although you can now for bigger tables) and see if you can get a place. The gastro model I think tended towards the more formal. Secondly as Belbin did underline it was a pub. It was leased from Banks and Taylor. It sold hand-pumped cask beer (something some later gastro pubs rather ‘forgot’). Albeit the beer was not zeitgeist even in the 1990s but it was drinkable enough.

Thirdly the food. It wasn’t expensive, it wasn’t trendy takes on ‘pub classics’. It was from memory at this time often more Portuguese focused than not. I’m sure this is where I first tried pastel de nata for example. Again all rather democratic.

Let’s hope it survives in these tough times and finds others who want to do something similar