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new openings
Joe's Oriental Diner
The Laundry Building, 2-18 Warburton Road,
E8 3FN
020 7920 6443 Price £48
No one could accuse Scott Hallsworth of
resting on his laurels since Kurobuta Chelsea
won our BMW Best New Restaurant Award
in spring 2015. His newest project - a huge,
rough-and-ready Asian adventure - also
began life in Chelsea, but we reckon Joe's is a
more natural t here in Hackney, a short stroll
from London Fields.
The setting is The Laundry: a cavernous
- if somewhat soulless - events space with
high ceilings, knocked-together decor and
ample room for a dining area, bar, lounge and
terrace. The South-East Asian menu includes
rare beef salad with a chilli dressing, buttered
prawns with walnuts, rendang short-rib buns
and duck leg curry.
Our Chinese chicken salad was a dish
of tasty contrasts: chewy chicken o -cuts
given a crackle by crisp wonton crunchies,
all splashed in sweet plum dressing and
mandarin segments. Best were the gooey and
lightly battered prawns doused in sriracha
mayo. Sadly, things started to unravel with
the larger plates: unappetisingly soft snapper
lumps swam in a muted and lukewarm
yellow curry broth; and though duck leg curry
with lychees was acceptable, it lacked any
memorable avours or texture. Take solace at
the bar, where Picklebacks jostle for attention
next to naughtily named cocktails (the Green
Bastard is a refreshing blend of cucumber,
lime, Midori and gin), predominantly European
wines and London ales.
The formula - a short hit list of intensely
avoured Asian sharing dishes - has proved
a winning one elsewhere, yet somehow Joe's
currently lacks a sense of joy. Let everything
bed in, though, and it could be a great
addition to the area. We wouldn't bet against
Hallsworth just yet and we'll keep you posted.
The Duck & Rice
90-91 Berwick Street, W1F 0QB
020 3327 7888 Price £45
The latest venture from the
ever-creative Alan Yau (founder
of Wagamama, Busaba Eathai
and Yauatcha) sounded like
it might be a comforting
Chinese gastropub, inspired
by memories of his parents'
Chinese takeaway in King's
Lynn. And, yes, you can
enjoy dumplings and a pint
of Pilsner Urquell Tankovna
beer in the ground- oor
bar - but the former
Endurance pub now
looks very much like a
destination bar-restaurant.
Past gleaming pilsner
tanks and up a spiral staircase,
the dining room is cramped yet
becoming: panels of blue and white
china matched with dark woods and
metals. The menu is split into abstract
sections such as 'Home Comfort',
'Heroes' and 'Buddha's Delight', but
clued-up sta can guide you to dishes
from the classic Cantonese repertoire.
Sweet, fatty roast duck, fall-apart barbecue
beef short rib and ginger-packed bavette
steak - all are exemplary. The 'small chow',
perfect for casual bar-snacking downstairs,
includes soft-shell crab, beer-battered
scampi and salt-and-pepper squid, while
the chilli chicken will leave your tongue
numb and zzing from Sichuan pepper.
Prices can be vertiginously high,
but chow mein options provide more
a ordable alternatives - Malaysian char
kway teow combines plump, soft noodles,
ery spice and juicy prawns for £12.50. The
fragrant and refreshing mango and pomelo
sago dessert is also good value. There are
dozens of Euro-led wines by the glass
(including a 70ml sampling option), and
beer lovers are well catered for, with pilsner,
IPA, porter - or in a cocktail.
This gleaming temple on tatty Berwick
Street is an engaging choice for Chinese
food and with its new alfresco tables looks
set to be a hot ticket all summer.
3 more…ORIENTAL EXCITEMENT
The House of Ho
020 3551 2822
Kouzu
020 3463 0207
Min Jiang
020 3544 7970
THE LAST WORD Cavernous, makeshift and well suited
to Hackney, Scott Hallsworth's new Asian enterprise boasts
refreshing libations - though the food needs extra oomph
THE LAST WORD Alan Yau's gleaming bar-restaurant
matches exemplary, if pricey, renditions of Cantonese
classics with top-notch brews in a former Soho pub
Jake Gyllenhaal
at Duck
Rice