This new restaurant and private member’s bar has been likened to “a gothic Claridges”. But aside from a quirky line in animal skulls (which make up a chandelier, wall lights, and just sit around on the bar), its airy décor fits firmly into the vaguely Manhattanite style that’s so familiar in the area. With its dark wood floors, steel pillars, and chocolate brown just about everything else, it’s classic Shoreditch.
On my visit, the jovial barman was sporting a frilled “buccaneer” shirt. With his flowing locks, he looked a bit like a survivor from an early ’80s heavy metal band and added some much-needed raffish charm to what at lunch is still a pretty dead scene. At night-time, he told me, things are becoming much more happening (and on cue as he said this, someone poked their head round the door to nab a table for twelve at 9pm).
The lunch menu is longer than the evening one, and classic modern British stuff. It didn’t put a foot wrong. Cauliflower soup was just the job for a cold day, and the slightly unusual addition of shrimps made a successful contribution to it. The preparation of a main dish of tuna (so often poor) was well judged, and its Japanese-y accompaniments which included seaweed, soy sauce and clean-out-your-sinuses wasabi were convincingly realised. Pudding was good, if not earth shattering: a combination of poached pears and chocolate goo (I’m sure it wasn’t called that).
It’s no criticism of this good addition to the area that (though tempted to award four stars) we felt that to break our recent run of three-star awards might risk over-egging it. For a ‘different’ city lunch or a funky evening hang out, this seems a useful alternative to the nearby Great Eastern Dining Rooms.
