Tom Brown and Brad Carter are re-opening Island in a revived Clerkenwell pub

28/8/26 - Updated with more details about the move and the opening date

Just over a year ago, chefs Brad Carter and Tom Brown teamed up for their upmarket surf-and-turf restaurant Island, opening above Mare Street Market. The food there was certainly impressive, but the massive room never seemed like the perfect fit (the last time we were there, the few diners in that evening were dwarfed by the huge space). 

Now comes the news that Island is on the move. They'll be opening in the new George & Dragon pub in Clerkenwell. Formerly known as The Peasant, it was one of London's first gastropubs along with The Eagle in Farringdon. It's now been closed since 2023 but was recently bought up by Barworks. They're the people who are not uncoincidentally behind Mare Street Market, as well as The Starman pub in Mayfair. And the new name of the pub is a return to what it was called when it opened back in Victorian times. 

Island will be taking on the dining room upstairs, and it will continue the approach they developed for King's Cross - a modern Surf n Turf restaurant with a big focus on British produce. New dishes being added to the menu in Clerkenwell include a steak and lobster pie, and a sharing "Chop Board" featuring cuts of steak, chops, and fish. The main event from King's Cross, the mixed grill, will be making a return as will their epic Sunday lunches. 

They'll also be adding a few dishes to the menu of the pub downstairs. There, you'll find snacks like shawarma-glazed lamb döner sausages and oysters in butter and bacon crumb. They'll also have a curried mussel bun with crispy potatoes and a BBQ pork belly & crab sub roll.

Island was great if rather under-appreciated in its King's Cross home - here's hoping it will get the attention it deserves in Clerkenwell.