Review of 'Maple Leaf'

Being a Canadian every time I walk by the “Maple Leaf” pub in Covent Garden I am interested to see what they offer. I know that they have attracted many Canadians over the years and show US and Canadian sports on their televisions but I have never visited…until now.

The “Maple Leaf” is currently owned by pub chain “Greene King” but it's menu and drinks are quite a bit different than their normal menus featuring many Canadian beers and food including, one of my favourite, “poutine” (French fries and cheese curds covered in gravy). The interior is quite crowded and noisy with various Canadian decorations throughout including the flags of the provinces and territories of Canada hanging from the ceiling.

Interior - Bar

The menu has a sports vibe with the double-sided A4 divided into “Kick Off” (snacks, beer food), “Match of the Day” (burger platters, all include fries), “Poutine” (see above), “Team Talk” (toasties, salads and “dirty” fries), “Team Huddle” (sharing platters), “Fill Your Boots” (pub favourites) and “Post Match” (desserts). After finding our table in the corner, we decided what we wanted and went to the bar to order (giving our table number to the staff so they know where to deliver). We were told it could take up to 45 minutes for our food to arrive but it ended up coming to the table in about 15 minutes.

Interior - Back

We had to have poutine, so we chose the basic version on the menu “Classic Poutine” (“Fries, gravy and squeaky cheese curds”, £7). It was a generous portion with copious amounts of gravy. We ended up dumping some of our fries from our burger platters in to sop it all up. This was generally quite good though one portion of the serving seemed to have had a bunch of salt dumped in it which we tried very hard to avoid.

Poutine

For our mains, I had the “6 oz Beef Dripping Burger” (“6 oz rib + shin beef burger, burnt ends in beef dripping gravy, oozy cheese sauce, gravy mayo + horseradish”, £14.50) which included a small portion of fries. The burger was tasty enough though the sauce did not have the hint of either cheese or gravy mayo, it was still very tasty and went everywhere when I attempted to eat it. The burger itself was juicy and quite tasty, a cut above your standard pub burger.

My companion had the “Cheese + Bacon Burger” (“Choose from: 6oz rib + shin beef burger or fried chicken strips. With smoked streaky bacon + mature Cheddar cheese”, £12.50) which was also, by all accounts, quite tasty.

Food

My companion availed herself of a Canadian beer (Molson Canadian) which was available in bottles, chilled correctly. She enjoyed this very much.

Interior - Out the Front

Except for the menu and Canadian-themed décor this could be any pub but, it isn't, and it does offer a bit of Canada in the heart of London. The food tastes quite good and is reasonably priced for the area. Would be nice to see more than just maple and poutine on the menu…

Ok, but not great by any means.

Rating: “A bit better than average”

Review Date: 2021-11-19


Cuisine: Pub

Address: 41 Maiden Ln, London WC2E 7LJ ENGLAND

Public Transport: TUBE Covent Garden TUBE Embankment

Location: London (England) - Covent Garden

Map:

 

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Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7240 2843

URL: https://www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk/pubs/greater-london/maple-leaf/