Time Out rating:
<strong>Rating: </strong>4/5
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<strong>Rating: </strong>3/5
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Time Out says
Mon Oct 15 2012
The even-more-pared-down version of Fergus Henderson’s pared-down St John Farringdon flagship serves breakfast, lunch and dinner of sophisticated simplicity. Its whitewashed walls, chalked-up wines and specials, and open kitchen still look classy almost a decade after opening. Menus change daily, but always read more like shopping lists than bills of fare: ham, bobby beans, hen’s egg. Courgette, white beans, yogurt. Slip sole, brown butter, sea purslane. Rabbit, dandelion, aïoli. ‘I could make that at home,’ you think, until you taste the dishes – it’s not easy to achieve such spectacular results from so little (although starting with top-drawer ingredients helps; and the St John dedication to nose-to-tail eating means you’ll see the likes of blood cake, crispy pig’s skin and ox heart). As the restaurant’s name suggests, bread is a strong point – buy it to take away fresh from the oven – as is wine, with no shortage of interesting examples by the glass. Service is supremely casual (chefs sometimes bring out plates themselves), but remains smooth as tables fill up. The Old Spot bacon sandwich, served every day, is one of London’s finest.
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