Market

One of the biggest trends of 2007 has been the resurgence of British cooking. Market is Camden's take on places such as Hereford Road and Canteen - ie modern settings with a daily changing menu of modish, seasonal dishes. There's a simple, almost Scandinavian, look to the room, with bare brick walls, slate-grey colours and metal-topped tables that evoke the look of zinc.

The pared-down aesthetic looks good, though we found the tables too close-packed - we now know more about the neighbouring couple's holiday arrangements than we do about our own.

Service was initially very chummy, but turned frosty when we gave negative feedback on a starter. Our waitress asked how the salt cod brandade was, and we answered honestly: it was far too salty (a result of not being rinsed thoroughly enough). 'Well, it is salt cod,' she responded, before whipping the dish away mid-fork, to take it off the bill.

Tender, flavour-packed pig's cheeks and Spanish black pudding with peas was satisfying wintery fare, if a bit too salty again. The warming slow-braised lamb shoulder was accompanied by potato gnocchi which had been pan-fried and was just the right choice for a cold night; a rich beef stew with parsnip mash was equally comforting.

The execution of the dishes was far from perfect, and a little amateurish in places - a child could have made the apple and blackberry crumble, for example - but we liked Market enough to want to return. Any cool-looking restaurant that serves Maldon rock oysters and jam roly-poly to the accompanying sound of Nouvelle Vague's 'Bande a Part' is fine by us; we were soon toetapping to the improbable cover version of Generation X's 'Dancing with Myself'.
Guy Dimond

Time Out London Issue 1946: December 5-11 2007

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I like it.
Alistair Brown  Dec 19 2007