By Richard Foss, Cuisine and Restaurant Writer
There’s something attractive about a classic English pub even if there isn’t a single British chromosome in your DNA.
It’s the polar opposite of an eat-and-run establishment: a place designed to be comfortable, to encourage you to linger over just one more beer, to listen to just one more song and perhaps even sing along.
British pubs have only one problem: English food is not particularly fashionable these days. The bland and carelessly made fare in London pubs inspired the gastropub revolution, which modernized bar food across the world. The downside of that revolution is that many people who are happy paying high prices for fancy burgers and other novelties have forgotten the joys of the eclipsed hearty traditional fare.
Those old-fashioned specialties are very well presented at The Whale & Ale in San Pedro, which has been run by Andrew Silber since 1995. Silber is from Northern England. He ran a successful restaurant in London before coming to the United States, so he knows English cuisine and is a champion of making it correctly. The Whale & Ale menu is stocked with pub classics like sausage rolls in pastry, shepherd’s pie, fish and chips, and chicken curry. On any given night, you’re likely to hear the accents of expatriates who have come in for a taste of home.
If you’re wondering about curry being on a list of British specialties, it’s worth noting that curry powder was sold in England at least as early as the 1790s. Those who think that everyone who lives in the British Isles prefer their food bland will have an awakening if they ask for it spicy here; while it doesn’t greatly resemble standard Indian curries, the pub variant can raise a sweat. For that matter, there are more spicy condiments that are traditionally British; the banger sausages served alongside the ploughman’s lunch and other dishes are flavored with gentle herbs, but those who crave a kick can hit them with spicy Coleman’s mustard and enjoy the burn. Freshly baked soda bread and butter is at every table. It is handy if you overdo it with the hot stuff.
The most popular item appears to be fish and chips. That’s the meal you’re most like to see on the platters heading for tables. The fish is Atlantic true cod, which is more expensive than many of the common substitutes but delivers thick, flaky filets with mild flavor. The Whale & Ale kitchen has decades of practice battering and frying it so that the batter is crisp and not greasy. They deliver every time.
The fish and chip plate demonstrates a point about the food here: it’s measured on execution rather than innovation. This doesn’t mean The Whale & Ale offers no novelties for those who want to try something new; a few items on the menu here are so rarely encountered that most people have never tasted them before.
One of these is roast duck in Cumberland sauce, which is red currant berries simmered in port wine with citrus and a hint of ginger. The tart berries and sweet wine cook into a fruity, aromatic sweet and sour sauce, one ideally suited to flavorful duck meat. The flavor balance is almost reminiscent of some sauces used in Vietnamese cuisine, but this is no fusion dish — there are recipes for it going back to the early 1800s. Try it here and you will wonder how this could have ever gone out of fashion.
Another classic dish is Beef Wellington, a filet mignon coated with a mushroom and seasoning mix, wrapped in puff pastry and baked. One can hazard a guess about why this is no longer on most restaurant menus: it’s time-consuming and most restaurant cooks can’t do it well to save their lives. The steak has to be seared and partly cooked before wrapping; it finishes cooking in the oven. If any part of it is done wrong, you get soggy pastry or overdone or underdone meat. The Whale & Ale’s kitchen has that timing down and the thick filet came out the medium rare I requested with the pastry crisped to flaky perfection. The portion was almost enough for two, so you might split this and a lighter dish with someone and enjoy an aristocratic treat.
British desserts have a well-deserved reputation for being rich and sweet, so here again you might want to split one with someone and order another if you still have room. I recommend the sticky toffee pudding — a confection of caramel with ground dates in a warm cake topped by vanilla ice cream — or the raisin bread pudding. If those and the other offerings don’t ring your bell, you can always have an after-dinner drink from the full bar.
For decades, The Whale & Ale has successfully pleased a clientele that includes both homesick Brits and locals who experienced this food here for the first time. Whether it was a revelation or just a reminder of the joys of a good pub, those satisfied people have made this a mainstay of the local dining scene, a place to come for a pint in friendly surroundings or for something more substantial.
The Whale & Ale is at 327 W. 7th St., in San Pedro.
Details: (310) 832-0363; www.whaleandale.com