How much: £35 a head for 3 courses and a rather nice bottle of Montepulciano
With who: Dr Vole
Come here if: you want dinner with a cultural twist
As a concept, museum or gallery cafes are often better than they are in actuality. For every South London Gallery Cafe, serving reasonably priced and freshly prepared quality options, there's two or three like the National Gallery Cafe or the British Museum Court Restaurant; overpriced, predatory canteens sucking desperate funds from their patrons, the visual arts version of the over priced popcorn you get at the cinema.
Ramsay protege Angela Hartnett has thrown her hat into the ring with this newly renovated matchbox sized dining room at hip East End Whitechapel Gallery. It's under her 'consultation' along with a company called Smart Hospitality. It smacks slightly of a branding exercise, but the promise of Hartnett's gutsy, honest and simple Italian cooking (along with a fascinating exhibition by collage maker John Stezaker) made us take the trek out east on a frosty February night.
The menu is short, seasonal and flies all over the place. It's more Italian than anything, but only just... Nibbles include a gorgeously grassy olive oil, emerald green and good enough to drink straight - served with slices of sourdough. The list then divides into small and large plates, interchangeable easily, but starter and main for most people's needs. We go for a full-flavoured and rich cauliflower soup, essentially hot cauliflower flavoured cream, tasty but slightly too rich for me. Served with blue cheese beignets, these seem like a step too far. I have Cornish mackerel served with pickled fennel and harissa. It was as nice a piece of the fish as I've ever had, sweet and perfectly cooked. The fennel was a subtle side, heated slightly by the harissa, cutting through the oiliness of the fish without overpowering it. Other options included a healthy sized portion of deep fried squid and a plate of cured salmon served with a sweet mustard potato salad that Dr Vole combined with a beetroot, goats cheese and sweet potato dish for her main options, preferring these to the larger plate options on offer.
My rabbit hot pot was exceptional. Strong flavours combining well to deliver a dish the equal of anything I've eaten at York & Albany. Tiny carrot cubes gave a sweet hit to the small oven pot packed with gamey rabbit. As a side, I went for a portion of truffle chips, the only off note of the meal for me, they arrived slightly limp and over-salted.
The dessert list is similarly bijou, but of enormous interest. A prune and almond tart was rich, moist and (from the tiny amount I was allowed to sample) perfectly balanced. My bitter chocolate pot came in the cliched kilner jar and was as nice a pot as I've had (if not necessarily bitter) set off with a lovely homemade honeycomb. The buzz and chatter in and about the tiny dining room appears deserved, and I hope that they're able to sustain this level of quality in the months and years to come. If you find yourself in the area, and aren't on a pilgrimage to Tayyabs, then I'd certainly suggest stopping by.
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