Neil Littman visits The Cock Inn on the Enfield/Barnet borough border to sample its eclectic menu

Heading north from Trent Park into the area that straddles Enfield and Barnet boroughs – and far enough from Cockfosters to make you feel like you’re in the countryside – a pub called The Cock Inn stands at the end of Chalk Lane.

Its impressive frontage looks more hotel than pub, and inside the interior is chic and smart. There are several dining and drinking areas, the best of which is the dining area at the back in terms of acoustics and ambience. There is also a large patio garden area with tables.

The present building dates to the 1930s with its distinctive green pantile roof. A pub or coaching inn originally stood on the site in 1798 and it was also briefly a boys’ prep school. Later, it became the Cock & Dragon, and is listed as a notable landmark for thirsty hikers using the London Loop path.

Having first visited The Cock Inn about ten years ago, I was interested to see if it had changed. Nowadays the pub is part of the Premium County Pub group, so there is a uniformity between the menus and the presentation of the food.

I rarely Google the names of dishes, but if named ingredients add something and make the food taste more interesting, then I don’t have a problem. The menu includes gochujang (a savoury, sweet and spicy fermented Korean paste), Violife (a vegan cheese brand, in this case feta-style) and yakiniku (a Japanese method of grilling meat).

On my first visit, I ordered Padrón peppers (£5.50), which were served with a sweet miso sauce and topped with pumpkin seeds, but arrived without the togarashi, a common Japanese spice blend that was mentioned on the menu. Despite this, it was still a good dish with some crunch from the seeds.

For my main course, I ordered chicken, leek and Davidstow cheddar pie with chive mashed potato (£19.50). It was served with tenderstem broccoli and a rich gravy. As pies go it was very good and surprisingly filling. All this was accompanied with a pint of Sam Smiths – they also have a good wine list.

On a second visit with a friend, we ordered the breads with Netherend Farm butter, accompanied by balsamic tomato tapenade and house pesto dips – but there wasn’t enough bread to mop them up!

For mains my friend ordered chicken pie while I ordered the linguine with crab, chorizo and scallops (£22.75), although I requested they leave out the chorizo, which they did.

For afters we ordered two ‘mini’ desserts with coffees, including rhubarb and strawberry crumble (£7.25), which were generous portion sizes.

The service was good on both visits, however the first time there were only half-a-dozen customers, on a quiet Monday evening. For the second visit on a Thursday evening it was much busier – there must have been nearly a hundred customers. The staff managed to cope well despite this, although some dishes had sold out.

Our bill without drinks and service came to £63, with any service charge at the discretion of customers.

The Cock Inn offers a midweek special of two courses from £22.95, Monday to Thursday from 5pm. Booking is advisable at weekends, and it also makes a good place for a special occasion.

For more information about The Cock Inn including opening times:
Visit thecockinncockfosters.co.uk

Do you have any suggestions for restaurants in Enfield to review or feedback on the places Neil has already reviewed? He would love to hear from Dispatch readers:
Email [email protected]

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