The Morgan Arms

Gastropub·
££££
·

SquareMeal Review of The Morgan Arms

There’s a nice vibe at The Morgan Arms when stray trendsters & spiffy Eastenders get together over pints & glasses of fine wine. The shining taps behind the beautifully preserved wooden bar promise such enticements as Butcombe’s Mendip Spring ale & Weston’s Old Rosie cider, while the wine list is broad-reaching and well-priced. The setting, by Tredegar Square, is leafy & lovely – best enjoyed at the picnic tables outside. Inside, the bar is bright & comfortable though some hokey design details remain from its Geronimo Inns incarnation (the Capital Pub Company now runs the place). The kitchen is not without ambition, producing such fancy fare as plaice with brown shrimps & beurre noisette, or ham hock & cotechino with lentils & salsa verde, though ‘costly’ prices raise an eyebrow, & the quality of the once-popular Sunday roasts has declined.

Good to know

Average Price
££££ - £30 - £49
Cuisines
Gastropub
Food Occasions
Sunday roast
Alfresco And Views
Beer garden, Outside seating
Special Features
Dog friendly
Perfect for
Group dining [8+]
Food Hygiene Rating

The Morgan Arms is featured in

Location

43 Morgan Street, London, E3 5AA

020 8980 6389 020 8980 6389

Website

Opening Times

Mon-Sun 12N-11pm (Thurs-Sat -12M Sun -10.30pm)

Reviews

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9 Reviews 
Food/Drink
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Ane-Mari P

24 May 2016  
The short lunch menu is always seasonally adapted and the burgers rival the best (despite the chef's desire to get rid of them and almost causing distress). The dinner menu packs a punch, but with excellent portion sizes you have to choose as you wouldn't be able to eat your way through it. A surprisingly well-rounded and innovative wine menu, including an adventurous Swiss red. Really excellent value with the manager Sam always ready with a smile an near photographic memory in recalling customers' names and likes.

Sophie M

14 July 2012  
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5
Great food, great beer, great staff. Nuff said.

George R

20 April 2011  
Food & Drink 5
Service 3.5
Atmosphere 4
Value 3.5
The Morgan Arms do some of the tastiest food I've ever had in a pub. Selection of drinks are a massive bonus. The beers are excellent (especially the Doombar) as are the spirits (try the Oban Scotch). The only thing that occasionally lets the place down is that, when it gets busy, one or two members of staff (but definitely not the majority) can occasionally be rude and not as helpful as possible. One thing to keep in mind, the best of the food tends to be modern rather than traditional British. This may be the place to come to for an evening meal rather than your Sunday roast.

David A

12 January 2011  
Food & Drink 4
Service 4
Atmosphere 4
Value 2.5
Love going here for a drink, really cozy atmosphere and intimate table layout for parties 2-8. Good range of beers from all over the world, my favourite kirin Ichiban from japan! Only eaten here a few times as it's a little costly, but always been impressed.

Andrtew T

16 May 2010  
Food & Drink 0.5
Service 2.5
Atmosphere 0.5
Value 0.5
Shock Horror! Carrots are the best thing in the roast!! I have had a few Sunday Roasts at the Morgan Arms in 2008, and although expensive they have always been exquisite to taste and generous in serving. On Sunday's, the place has always been extremely busy at both lunchtimes and evenings and you generally have to book ahead. As we lay in bed on Sunday morning in May 2010, thinking about where to go for a roast, the choice was obvious…The Morgan Arms. However, that's where the good news ended. On arrival at the Morgan, the place was empty with only a couple of people in there. We arrived at 1pm. It proudly displayed it's Timeout good food guide 2010 so everything seemed ok. I noticed an unfinished roast on a customer's table and just thought to myself that he must be full or ill. I ordered the lamb leg roast for £15 and my girlfriend the rack of beef for £13. Mine arrived and it looked raw. The lamb was fatty and was more chump than champ. I immediately sent it back to be cooked. I am an avid meat eater and rarely ever send my food back. I'm also colour blind but even i could tell that was too pink for my liking. My girlfriend's beef was red and bloody and would have put any serious meat eater off. WE took photos of the food hoping to upload someday. I left most of my food as did my girlfriend. The roast potatoes were frozen and undercooked, (the old Morgan would only use fresh produce), the yorkshire puddings were frozen not fresh and the best thing on the plate were the carrots which obviously were boiled not roasted. What annoys me is the price for rubbish food. £30 for two inedible roasts. All i can imagine is that the place has come under new ownership. Any review from 2008 is valid as i used to go here, however, DO NOT trust this place now…it's awful. As for the TimeOut award, well you decide how that mistake happened.!!!

Catherine N

09 May 2010  
Food & Drink 1
Service 1.5
Atmosphere 2.5
Value 1
Just got back after eating at the Morgan Arms which has been ‘celebrated’ for its good food. How very disappointed we were. First of all we arrived ten minutes to five, we were told we could not sit down in the eating area till after five so we stood with our drinks waiting next to a completely empty eating area. After it finally turning five o'clock we waited some more for someone to notice us. After a while a lady came along and led us to our seats. We were given a menu that was then briskly taken away and asked to wait for a new menu to be printed. 10-15 minutes later the ‘new’ menu came, we chose our starter olives,bread and oil and the beef Sunday roast. Our starter came quickly, the olives were lovely but the bread was stale tasting and cardboard-like. The service was slow and quite terrible, understandable since the only waitress there was was sitting down eating her roast and serving at the same time. It took 45 minutes for our roast to come ( which I don't understand since it all tasted like it had just been pre-heated from earlier on). The potatoes were dry, the vegetables looked a bit sorry for themselves, the Yorkshire pud was simply a brown crispy shell of air and the gravy was water with little specks of brown floating in it (which funily enough had no flavour). After getting the waitresses attention we expressed our concern that the gravy was in fact brown water, she said she would bring us over a new batch. The new batch came (after many many more minutes gone by) tasting the same but with a hint of red wine. The roast cost us £13.50 per person!. The price did certainly not match up to the taste. After the meal the waitress kindly said she would take off the price of our starter to apologise for our dissatisfaction, this was a nice offer which we were more than happy to take up. But this unfortunately is not enough to make us spend money on a meal at the Morgan Arms again.

EastLondon B

07 December 2008  
Food & Drink 1.5
Service 1.5
Atmosphere 1.5
Value 1.5
I've been to this pub and eaten here right at the beginning of it's life since it was transformed from the rough n ready place it used to be. Without a shadow of doubt it deserved all the credit it's received for great food, service and cheer. But, unfortunately, as so often happens, this gastropub has steadily let itself down, to the point where now it's a complete rip off. You can still feel the warmth as you enter the pub, yet nowadays that's where it ends, at the doorstep. The service goes through some of the motions but on a Sunday you don't expect the staff to be as sleepy, careless and lazy as the rest of London. Don't expect your full order to return to your table. When it arrives expect the opposite of the above review. There's no heaving plate here anymore. Just the minimum offering. Since when did your any decent sunday roast cook slap one and a half burnt potatoes on your half full/half empty (you chose) plate? A dribble of gravy and sweaty cabbage is just enough to take a look for the waitresses. Any around? No. When there's one in site, a reluctant nod is what you'll receive to let you know they might be over at some point. This is when the dining area itself is half full/half empty (you chose). The pudding was ok but who eats ice cream ice cream with a fork? I'd of liked to ask the waitresses, but i guess they had done their bit at that stage. £32 pounds later. Time to leave. ps. If you care to leave a tip, don't expect a thank you. Good luck Morgan Arms, we'll see what you turn into in a few years, as in this day and age, you simply don't stand a chance when people expect something back for their money.

Trevor W

16 November 2008  
Food & Drink 3.5
Service 3.5
Atmosphere 4.5
Value 4
I used to live round the corner. I now live in epsom. Its worth the trip back east for the Sunday Roast. Best pub in London? Yeh, probably. Why did i move!?

sophie Y

22 October 2008  
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 4
I was delighted to discover the Morgan Arms. not only is it a great pub to drink at on a fridya night (remember to book if you want to eat) but also one of the best sunday roasts in the area, with the best yorkshires ever! the Whitebait with a hint of paprika were delicious, adn i'm definitely going to be a regular! Woud have like a bigger selection of beers, but they have a great wine list. Highly reccommended
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