Unsung London - the restaurants that don't get the recognition they deserve
With the saturation of social media you might think that every great restaurant in London gets the coverage and acknowledgement they are due. However, this is not always the case. Some slip through the net and it is these unsung heroes of the capital’s eating out scene that I wish to put onto the stage. I want to sing their praises, sing about their lack of pretension and PR strategy, mention the lovely thing they do with an egg on Sundays, and maybe recognise the fact that the nearest they get to a sharing plate is the prawn crackers.
Because in the constantly and wonderfully evolving landscape that is the London food scene, it’s quite easy to forget that there are some terrific restaurants that do not make it onto the pages of the endless guides, somehow get lost in the Twittersphere but that are entirely worth visiting. Some are shy, some are tucked away but deserve to be heard and tasted.
Nid Ting - Holloway Road
Who says you can’t get good Thai in London? Nid Ting is to Thai Square what Franco Manca is to Domino’s. It’s small, friendly and, vitally, the food is cracking – proper, punchy soups, fresh and crunchy salads, rich curries, great noodles. It’s all satisfyingly eye-watering, unlike the prices.
020 7263 0506
The Russet - Hackney
A little café with big ideas. That their ‘philosophy’ is worthy shouldn’t detract from delicious, affordable food. Venison carpaccio with juniper oil, blackberries and beetroot for a fiver? Breads are from the E5 bakehouse, meat from the Ginger Pig, and cheese from Neal’s Yard. Very now, and bloody good.
therusset.wordpress.com
Pentolina - Brook Green
Rather like Thai restaurants, tracking down a decent, affordable Italian place is extremely difficult. You need to remortgage the house to go to the River Cafe, and then there’s only so much iffy pasta between that and Bella Italia. Pentolina is a remarkably simple neighbourhood restaurant that serves familiar favourites with soul – melanzane parmigiana, paccheri with n’duja ragu and a tiramisu that is actually edible. Vaut la visite, as the Michelin twonks would say.
pentolinarestaurant.co.uk
So, Rebato’s does do sharing plates, not in a hip Polpo-ish way, but a real tapas way. Like my beloved El Parador in Camden, this is proper, honest food – chorizo with white beans, crisp whitebait, piquillo peppers and boquerones – with a fine sideline in offally bits such as calves liver on a plancha and kidneys with sherry.
rebatos.com
Emile’s, a modern British restaurant tucked away just south of Putney Bridge, is something of an institution for locals but unsung beyond that. It’s stuffy in a beguiling sort of way (instead of “starters” the menu says “to commence”). The menu is intriguing and bold, with dishes so verbose that they would eat into my word limit for this article. Beef Wellington is their signature dish – justly so.
emilesrestaurant.co.uk
This article appeared in the recent issue of the London Evening Standard Food magazine. For updates please follow it on Twittter @ESFoodMag
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