The Queen’s Head is the second of my two local pubs in Burlington. Ironically, I see I ended up giving it exactly the same total score as my other local, The Poacher—although the details are different. The Queen’s Head is actually the second pub I visited when I first moved to Burlington, but I consider it to be the oldest of my regular haunts.
When I’m sitting at the bar of The Queen’s Head (when it’s not very busy, as I don’t like feeling crowded), and chatting with either Sue or Amanda, the two bartenders and servers who’ve worked there for even longer than I’ve lived here, it’s very peaceful.
There have been several changes not only to the chef and kitchen staff, and, therefore, the food quality, but also to ownership over the years. Some things have been a little bit in flux, while other things have remained just the same.
The Queen’s Head serves some of the best mild English curry I’ve ever had. It also plays into something I’ve developed a taste for in recent years—tossing chicken wings not in any of the normal sauces, but in curry sauce. They have a half-price special on wings every Tuesday—and I’m always there at lunch (I work from home, just a couple of minutes away) to have a pint and some curry wings. They’re fantastic.
The other item on the menu that’s a sinful delight is the bacon and cheddar tart, which is essentially a “pie slice” of scalloped potatoes wrapped in bacon and covered in a Parmesan cheese sauce. It’s really good. Actually, they served it there many years ago, and I had it regularly back then, but it was taken off the menu. I’m glad to see it back on again.
They have the basic English beers you would expect, as well as some craft beers. For a beer aficionado, the selection is not entirely varied, and it doesn’t change that often, but it’s still a cut above your average pub.
The menu provides standard pub fare that has been “kicked up a notch”, as Emeril Lagasse might say. Almost everything on the menu is good quality. Some things you would expect, others have a unique twist that makes them interesting. (Like that bacon and cheddar tart, which I now can’t stop thinking about.) Despite that, however, the prices are significantly higher than they should be. The “upper scale” version of the food does not justify the markup, and the more standard-fare items on the menu are overpriced. I always get wings every Tuesday, when they are half price, and I sometimes get that bacon and cheddar tart. Occasionally, I will get basic nachos. But, for the most part, I never go to The Queen’s Head to eat unoic07. It just seems wrong to me to be paying as much as is being charged. I can think of other places where I’ll pay the same (more than I want to for just a casual meal) that is better quality for the price.
Still, I really enjoy going to the Queen’s Head to meet friends for a drink—or to meet friends behind the bar. And, if you can turn a blind-eye to the exaggerated prices, it’s definitely one of the better places to hang out.
There is a main pub area inside, a room with pool tables and dart boards, and a third room with a cozier bar that’s open part-time and for private functions. (There is also a larger room that can be booked downstairs.) The patio has two main areas and accommodates a lot of people. There are two flights of stairs to get into the pub, without a ramp for anybody in a wheelchair. Still, if you manage to get into the pub, the bathrooms are on the same floor and can be managed.
It’s very difficult for me to convince myself that I shouldn’t be walking a block-and-a-half whenever the thought crosses my mind. It’s only because I’m strong-willed that I’m not there every day.