Shamefully for a local, I didn’t realise how many eateries in Kentish Town were owned by Omar Shah, an entrepreneurial chef from the Philippines whose parents opened Bintang (a great Thai spot) back in 1987. So that’s Guanabana, Ramo Ramen, Mamasons, Cafe Mama & Sons – and now Belly Bistro, an intimate Filipino restaurant with a very nice font.
They’re going for a neighbourhood bistro thing here, but it feels more like your classic Hackney small-platey spot. It’s compact and candle-lit, laid out in a strip of small tables with white tablecloths and a few stools up by the bar facing the wall. Everyone eating here is in their 20s and 30s, staff are great. It’s also (at the time of writing) one of the hottest restaurants in town, so there is a chance you’ll have an influencer’s white light blaring from the table next to you. You’ve been warned.
We kick off with cocktails - both the melon sour and the watermelon marg are punchy and well-balanced. The food comes quickly. One of Belly’s ‘viral dishes’ (sorry) is first out, the cured scallops in big, shallow shells, swimming in coconut cream with basil oil and little pickled chillies. They are things of beauty, fat and meaty and incredibly rich - the kind you have to share, lest you get overwhelmed before your main comes out. We also try the soft and tender smoked trout kinilaw – a Filipino take on a ceviche – which I like even more. Almost everything we try is subtly spicy with a tickling, warm heat. The dish to order for a bit of a palette switch-up is the smoked aubergine and tomatoes with bagong (shrimp paste), which I would’ve overlooked had our waiter not recommended it. It ended up being a nice fruity, fresh accompaniment to all the fish and cream going on. There isn’t too much in the way of veggie dishes here (a mushroom main and two starters), but what they do have is good. You’re better off coming here with peskis at the least though – fish is the star of this menu.
Of course, it slaps. I don’t need to tell you that.
The other dish making waves is the tempura cod pandesal, designed to be like a posh filet o’ fish with a slice of American cheese and salty cod’s roe, served in a slightly sweet Filipino bun that tastes like milk bread. Of course, it slaps. I don’t need to tell you that. There’s a butter-soft wagyu steak in bistek sauce (essentially soy and citrus), which is intensely umami, salty and thick. The seafood caldereta is stuffed with clams, mussels and squid in a thick tomato sauce with that familiar subtle, sweet heat. Both these mains cost just over £30, but they’re filling – if you share one of them, one starter and a bowl of potatoes, you’ll leave happy. For pudding, there’s four choices. A ‘tiramisu with a twist’ is all the rage these days, but the ‘ube’ version here, with a blueberry compote, mostly tastes like whisky and sugar to me, though it was perfectly nice (and very blue). The frozen custard profiterole, however, with ever-so-slightly charred, chewy edges, doused in a fish sauce caramel? That was an utterly perfect, salty, umami finish.
Belly has trendy-small-plates-restaurant spirit but without the puffy flatbreads and anchovies that saturate the market. Instead it’s spicy, salty, colourful and packed with flavour – the best new opening in Kentish Town for a long, long while.
The vibe: A cosy, intimate spot on Kentish Town Road with fun staff and fun tunes.
The food: A fish-forward menu of Filipino-inspired sharing plates (big and small).
The drink: Good cocktails, an on-trend wine list and a few well-priced beers on draft.
Time Out tip: Go for a pint at Tapping the Admiral up the road beforehand – and head to Ladies & Gents for a night cap afterwards (it’s one of those cocktail bars in an old public toilet).