The Saxon King pub, Harold Hill opens ‘Romford’s first smokehouse’

The Saxon King in Petersfield Avenue began serving food from its Buddy 48 Smoker at 4pm on Friday (August 22) for the first time.

Owner Jane Phillips described the opening weekend as a “dream”.

She said: “The food went very well and at a nice pace.

“The response has been so good and everyone loved it.”

Jane described the opening weekend as a ‘dream’ (Image: Jane Phillips) Jane explained that Friday wasn’t without its hiccups but said the Saxon King team dealt with them well.

“We had a few glitches on the Friday – our electrics tripped out and it was a bit hectic,” she said.

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“We had issues with our card readers as well so we had to go cash only – it didn’t go as well as we wanted but we had no complaints – it was us who were unhappy in the kitchen.

“I knew the food was going out as good as it should be but there was still some glitches and it wasn’t perfect.”

Food from the opening weekend (Image: Jane Phillips) Jane said that Saturday and Sunday ran smoothly with no issues.

“All in all, it was a great weekend to start and we’re really looking forward to getting stuck in and pushing on,” she added.

According to Jane, customers enjoyed their food and many sat in the newly designed pub garden, worked on by her partner Spencer and pub regulars who volunteered.

Jane bought the pub in 2000 and earlier this month celebrated 25 years of owning the boozer alongside her friend Keilly Eury, who celebrated the same anniversary of owning her hairdressers Magic Mirrorz.

She previously told the Recorder that after 25 years of business, it can be hard to think outside the box and try something new but before the launch day last Friday she felt as excited as when she first bought the pub.

Jane (right) celebrated 25 years of business and friendship with Keilly Eury (left) (Image: Keilly Eury) “Times are tough and one of the biggest suffering industries is the hospitality industry so we’ve gone for it and we’re going to give it our best shot – its something I’ve wanted to do for years and it’s lovely to be able to put it into practice in a place that I’ve been for so long,” she said.

“We’ll tweak as we go along – our menu might be slightly too big so we might lose one or two items or keep them for special events.”

Beef brisket was amongst the offering (Image: Jane Phillips) Among the servings were beef brisket, chicken wings, ribs and smash burgers.

Jane said Sunday roasts sold out within two hours and, although they didn’t involve the smoker, she revealed that going forwards she would like to experiment with smoking turkey for her roast dinners.

“I was so pleased with the opening weekend overall, we can’t wait to push on and keep going,” she added.

“We will also be getting a delivery service up and running but we need to get the balance correct first – its all baby steps.”