The Elgin (Maida Vale).

The Elgin (Maida Vale)

The Sunday menu names its cheeses one by one, Smokeacre, Somerset, Cornish gouda, Old Winchester, which is not how most roast pubs write a page.

Why go

Four roasts, all of them plated the same way: roasties, carrots, summer greens, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. Barnsley lamb chop with green sauce is £27.50, rump of beef with horseradish cream £26, half chicken crown with garlic and sage stuffing £23.50, and a marinated aubergine with smoked almond dukkah at £19, which goes vegan by dropping the Yorkshire (venue menu, May 2026). A Barnsley chop is a double loin cut through the saddle, so it cooks like a small joint rather than a chop and gives you a pink center with a rendered fat cap, which is the right call for a kitchen serving a roast at scale. Time Out gave the pub four stars in 2019, noting it buys milk and cream from Northiam Dairy (Time Out). It is an Urban Leisure Group house with ten keg taps and no cask (CAMRA). Food runs from 9am on weekdays, so it works for breakfast too.

Order this / avoid

• Order: the rump of beef with horseradish cream at £26, and the Strongman cauliflower cheese at £8 to share. The leek and Smokeacre cheddar croquettes with burnt leek salt are the small plate to start on.
• Avoid: ordering off Time Out's 2019 review. The salt cod croquettes, ricotta gnudi and vegetarian wellington it names are all gone from the current menu.

What locals & experts say

• Time Out (Lisa Harris, 19 December 2019, four stars): everything a serious gastropub should be: warm and welcoming, with food you'd come back for, in a downstairs room like a classy mate's living room with slouchy sofas, ultra friendly staff and ad hoc vintage furnishings.2
• CAMRA: ten keg taps and no cask ale, in a gastro-pub with lots of tile-work and etched glass, operated by Urban Leisure Group.3
• Jeff's list: saved for the Sunday roast. REAL.

Good to know

• Timing: food from 9am Monday to Saturday, and noon to 8pm on Sunday. Bar to 11.30pm midweek and midnight at weekends. Book for Sunday.
• Booking: through theelgin.com/book, events@theelgin.com or 020 7625 5511.
• Price: roasts £19 to £27.50. Add 12.5% discretionary service and £1.50 for unlimited filtered water.
• Dietary: the venue's own menu marks every dish vegetarian, vegan or without gluten, and the aubergine roast is vegan once the Yorkshire pudding comes off. The menu says "Please let us know if you have any allergies or dietary requirements," which is a request rather than a cross-contamination protocol, so celiac diners should still ask about the kitchen.
• Beer: ten keg lines, no cask. It is a wine and cocktail pub more than a beer one.
• Location: 255 Elgin Avenue, two minutes from Maida Vale tube.

Jeff's take (his words)

• Note: "Sunday roast" REAL.

Verdict

could-visit — If it is on your way on a Sunday. The roast is the reason: four cuts from £19 to £27.50, all plated with roasties, carrots, greens, Yorkshire and gravy, and a vegan version that is a real dish rather than an afterthought. Time Out gave it four stars in 2019 and called it 'everything a serious gastropub should be', and the kitchen still names its suppliers on the page. It does not have an award or a technique you cannot find closer to wherever you are staying, and the strongest published review is seven years old.