Harden's survey result
Summary
“Heavily embracing the post-industrial vibe” – this “buzzy” hipster feature not far from the Emirates and Drayton Park station (“did they go out of their way to make it difficult to find?”) makes elegant and appealing use of the high-ceilinged space it occupies (originally, of course, a laundry). Five years old now, it’s something of a classic of the contemporary East End genre – “a small plates outlet of quality” combining funky tapas with low intervention wines. It does attract the odd more downbeat critique though: “the food, service and ambience are all fine but in no way justify the prices”.
Summary
“Beautifully prepared fish-centric tapas and a super-cool setting” make this “fab Holloway Road local” small-plates venue “a perfect place to impress your out-of-towner mates… or even those that live in London!” There’s a “small but interesting list” of “brilliant orange and other low-intervention wines”. Top Tip – “leave space for the rum baba – you’ll need to share”.
Summary
A hipster hit of recent years, Jeremie Cometto-Lingenheim and David Gingell’s “lively”, hard-surfaced operation off the Holloway Road has built a strong following for its zeitgeisty style, matched with “inventive and well-presented” fish and seafood cooking, with ingredients from ‘regenerative producers’, and an “interesting” list of low-intervention wines. “I’m not a great fan of small plates but we decided to have every dish on the menu – and it has to be said they were all excellent.”
Summary
“Innovative food” in a “hard and echoey” space still packs in the crowds at this hipster hit of a couple of years ago, just off the Holloway Road, which fans feel has a “great vibe” (even despite the fact that “when the place is full, conversation can be close to impossible”). The venue has always had its detractors, though, and there were more vocal complaints this year that the whole approach is “a little too cool for its own good” (i.e. “pleased with itself” and “disappearing up its own fundament”); which results in food that’s “not bad but underwhelming, so hard to see what all the fuss is about”. Also the natural wine list, “while pleasingly ambitious and different, has a high percentage of misses” (to the extent it can seem “plain daft”).
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Westerns Laundry?
34 Drayton Park, London, N5 1PB
Restaurant details
Westerns Laundry Restaurant Diner Reviews
"Fabulous place, great team & they make delicious food... worth a visit!"
Prices
Drinks | |
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Wine per bottle | £30.00 |
Filter Coffee | £3.50 |
Extras | |
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Service | 10.00% |
34 Drayton Park, London, N5 1PB
Opening hours
Monday | CLOSED |
Tuesday | 5:30 pm‑10:30 pm |
Wednesday | 5:30 pm‑10:30 pm |
Thursday | 5:30 pm‑10:30 pm |
Friday | 5:30 pm‑10:30 pm |
Saturday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 5:30 pm‑10:30 pm |
Sunday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 5:30 pm‑9 pm |
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