Pig and Butcher

The story

Pig and Butcher London | Modern British Gastropub in Islington, Michelin Recommended

The Pub

The Pig and Butcher occupies a handsome pub built in the mid 1800s, when Islington was still a village on the edge of London. The surrounding fields once served as a resting place for livestock headed to Smithfield’s Meat Market. That history runs through the place today. The team draws inspiration from farmhouse tables across Europe, presenting a menu that changes daily to reflect the best seasonal produce Britain has to offer.

The Food

This is a restaurant that takes its name seriously. All meat is butchered on site in a specially built room downstairs. Fruit and vegetables are hand-picked each morning from New Spitalfields Market, and meat is collected locally from Smithfield. The result is a kitchen that can pivot with the seasons and the morning’s best haul.

On the daily-changing à la carte, starters might include a 45-day aged beef tartare with egg yolk and thyme crostini, or a dressed crab crumpet with smoked salmon and Marie Rose sauce. Mains run from a slow roast pork belly with pomme purée and flageolet bean stew to a 45-day aged sirloin with triple-cooked beef fat chips and peppercorn sauce. For two to share, there is a braised ox cheek, celeriac and bone marrow pie, or a 60-day aged côte de boeuf. The Sunday roast is served all day until 9pm, with options like salt-aged Aberdeen Angus sirloin or Tamworth porchetta, each plate coming with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and honey-roasted carrots. Saturday breakfast is also served, from a Full English to buttermilk pancakes.

The Setting

The first-floor Private Dining Room features a wood-burning stove and an Aga oven, giving it the feel of a farmhouse kitchen in the heart of Islington. The wine list changes regularly, drawing from family-owned vineyards the team has worked with since the mid-nineties, alongside a solid selection of beers. Dogs are welcome.

The Pig and Butcher’s commitment to whole-animal cookery and precise sourcing has earned it a Michelin Recommended status for 2026 – a fitting recognition for a pub that honours its place in London’s meat-trade history while serving some of the city’s most satisfying Modern British cooking.