Floyd's

Time Out says

Tue Feb 5 2013

By Celia Plender

Fashion model to brasserie chef might not seem like the most obvious transition, but Konrad Lindholm is wearing it well at this Dalston hangout, which opened in December.

Testament to what you can do with a small space, Floyd’s may be narrow, and filled with a fair bit of choice chintz, but the wood-panelled dining room feels more like an airy Scandinavian summerhouse than a packed pub.

We visited for Sunday lunch. So did plenty of other people: the white plank tables were packed with Hackneyites, a laidback thirtysomething crowd making the most of the diverse offerings.

The modern European menu features everything from own-cured gravadlax and smoked mackerel with apple salad, to pizzas, burgers and roasts – including some game. The free-form pizzas come with a crisp, flatbread-like base and a generous helping of toppings, but the truffle oil on our wild mushroom, red onion and rocket version was a flavour too far.

Own-made sweet, dill-pickled cucumber was the perfect foil to pan-fried herring with salsa verde, while tender roast pork belly covered in crunchy, salt-rubbed crackling made a hearty dish with artichoke purée and curly kale.

The grimy Shacklewell Lane location is certainly a long way from catwalk glamour, but Floyd’s has pitched itself just right for this neighbourhood – it’s genuinely friendly rather than achingly fashionable – so no wonder it’s pulling in the crowds.