Railroad

It's the sort of place that could only exist in Hackney. A former barbers and a Nigerian wine bar have been knocked together, given a lick of paint then embellished with not much more than a bit of foliage, a vast mirror and team shots of George Best and Bobby Charlton.

There's some salvaged furniture and a tiny wedge of a kitchen, which contains a top-of-the-range espresso machine and delivers food of an standard that belies the humble interior. Signs and menus are written by hand.

It's a bookshop, too (well, there's a bookcase of purchasable publications) and downstairs, there are poetry readings and open-mic nights.

Railroad is a lo-fi, low-key, DIY operation run by Lizzie Parle and her partner - Lizzie is the sister of Stevie Parle, who runs Dock Kitchen in west London. Lizzie's Morning Lane location couldn't be more different to Stevie's converted wharf in Ladbroke Grove - for now, at least, this is a defiantly unglamorous part of London.

It's open for breakfast, lunch and dinner (the latter Wednesday- Saturday from 7.30pm), and the brevity of each menu is more than compensated for by the quality of the dishes.

On our evening visit, we had a short wait before ordering because dinner was still in the oven - unconventional, perhaps, but a result of the daily changing menu.

Starters were breaded quail with fish sauce, and deep-fried spiced chickpeas; for mains we shared a spinach and potato curry, shot through with nigella, mustard seeds and curry leaves, and also a chorizo and lentil stew, stained red with tomato and paprika, served with chunks of own-made bread.

Dessert was shared - a slice of almond and pear tart (also oven fresh).

To drink, there's Square Mile coffee, nice teas, wines by the glass and a few imported bottled lagers - but given the wealth of independent London brewers around at the moment, a couple of local ales would be welcome.

Good ingredients were in evidence throughout, and everything was confidently cooked - way above the usual café offerings, and impressive given the miniature size of the kitchen.

This is a place to celebrate - the antithesis to chain roll-outs and big-money City dining destinations, an example of what can be done with a bit of ambition and imagination.