Plaquemine Lock — Restaurant in London

tl;dr spare yourself money and disappointment and go somewhere else. You will leave hungry and confused with bitter aftertaste of poor customer service.

We booked the table in advance for Bourbon Boucherie series. We came in, nobody at the door, staff completely oblivious to customers coming in. We walked to the bar, said we had reservation, lady at the bar gave a confused look to her colleague who asked us "what's up guys". Weird and awkward.

We were seated, the place was empty aside of few tables outside drinking. We were offered regular menus, when we asked for the special ones for Bourbon Boucherie we were told that it's not happening due to the fact that chef had to urgently return to the USA. No info about that on any of their social media (we'd probably move our reservation to a different day if we knew). Okay, accidents happen.

We ordered some cocktails and bunch of dishes - cornbread, beignet with bacon, fried green tomatoes, gumbo and jambalaya. Even though place was empty we waited over 20 minutes for our drinks. At some point a lady (different to the waiter who took our order) came to the table to ask if we already ordered our drinks and then just left without a word. Place is not busy, you can't check order on the POS or ask your colleague?

Now onto the main event - food. Everything was seasoned really well but the portions were so awfully small we couldn't believe that they cost as much as they did. Their pictures on social media makes it look as if you are going to experience hearty Louisiana meals, instead it's Michelin star portion sizes within your usual pub setting with mediocre service. Tiny portion of cornbread £5, ONE beignet with ONE strip of bacon £7, Jambalaya - served in a massive pot with thin layer of rice spread at the bottom - £18, Gumbo - served in a gigantic fine-dining style plate while portion could fit in a small bowl - £17. Main dishes resembled starters, not a substantial meal. Food took ages to arrive, even though we were the only people eating there at the time. We were served by 3 different people. Chaotic experience.

Anyone who claims that this is good value food has never been to any food joint in New Orleans. You're either a pub, with laid back customer service, serving decent sized meals for a decent price or outstanding place with top tier service that will make up for a tiny portions and crazy price tag. We left hungry and...

🚇Angel 🍺 £6.40 Estrella Galicia ❤️ A taste of the Deep South in N1.

The Plaquemine Lock is located on a leafy street set on the Regents Canal in Angel. The nearest Tube is Angel which is a pleasant five minute stroll.

Formally the Prince of Wales, the pub was originally built in 1851 and rebuilt in the 1930s. After closing in 2014, the pub reopened in 2017 as The Plaquemine Lock. The name refers to a lock in Plaquemine, a small town in Louisiana USA.

This is a cosy one bar pub that has a welcoming local feel. The walls are painted a vibrant yellow and are overlaid by murals of life on the bayou, plantation houses and river boats. The seating is a mix of banquettes, traditional chairs around café style tables and comfy leather topped stools. There are some original features from the 1930’s , the tiled fireplace in the snug, the servery and the wall panelling.

The beer selection was excellent and included two cask ales. There are beers available from London breweries like @hammertonbrew and @fourpure plus continental options too. I had a pint of Estrella Galicia, my pint was superb, price point was just above average. The food is New Orleans influenced Cajun and Creole cuisine. Dishes include Jambalaya, hearty filled Po’boys plus Oysters and seafood. If you visit on a Sunday, traditional Roasts take centre stage.

We arrived around 1pm on a warm Saturday lunchtime back in August. The atmosphere was very convivial and upbeat with a dozen or so punters in attendance. There was a chap tinkling the ivories which made for a pleasant stay. We got chatting to the super friendly American owners who were telling us all about the pub’s name and their links to Louisiana, they also let is sample their amazing Bloody Mary. If you love your Jazz and Blues, the pub host live music six days a week.

The @plaqueminelock is a unique and very colourful pub that we immediately felt at home in. Even though the food may get all the headlines, this is a great place to have a beer. The welcome and hospitality was outstanding, we instantly felt like locals. I will definitely revisit to try the Po’boys.

ℹ️ Info correct on...

Maybe a victim of my high hopes, but this was a disappointment. I am from southern US and cook Cajun and Creole at home in London. Really this seemed like a bar in the French Quarter trying hard not to be a dive bar. If I had come for drinks and minimal convo, it's probably bon temps roulé enough to be 4 stars. But I came for food and it's a disappointment.

We were seated at a two top directly under a speaker that was far too loud, making conversation impossible. Sure a bar can have loud music but if you have tables and food you can't exactly leap across to shout into the other person's ear. Live music started later which was actually quieter and further away.

Cocktail (a Sazerac) was ok but wasn't cold enough and was under proof. We ordered the next round (beer) and glasses were bussed before we were finished.

I came for the food but was surprised that it was mostly starters and lunch/brunch food. The four cajun mains that stuck out were gumbo, shrimp and grits, Crawfish boil, and jambalaya. Shrimp and grits are a breakfast/brunch dish, not dinner. Boil is too simple for a restaurant. We ordered jambalaya which only comes for 2. It was pretty legit, had either real andouille sausage or a reasonable facsimile. Maybe a bit too buttery, jambalaya should be dry with the spice absorbing the moisture. The size was honestly way too small. A big thing in Cajun food is the portion size being slightly too much, this was a 1 person portion. Also no bread at all which is man-da-tor-ee, even on a dry dish like Jamba.

We also had fried green tomatoes and a bacon beignet. FGT was perfect with the right kind of cornmeal batter (we call it catfish batter). Bacon beignet was gimmicky and would prefer just a good beignet. Probably both too small again.

I wouldn't go back again for Cajun food. The menu is too sparse, I cook it better, and I know I'll be full afterward. I was so disappointed I looked at pictures of food from American Cajun restaurants to confirm I was right.

As a bar, seems nice if you are local and in a party mood but I wouldn't go to...