Option 1: Forget about the booking. But there was no way I was letting this one go. I was more excited to visit this restaurant than other in the past few months.
Option 2: Take a bike. I would have taken this option (even though I am scared stiff of riding on London roads - and haven't ridden a bike in 10 years) but I had two heavy bags with me, one bag on each handle? I would be never be able to balance myself.
Otion 3: Take a taxi. The last time there was a tube strike, the usual 30 minute journey took an hour in a taxi. I am not one to be late!!
Option 4: Walk. I walked 55 minutes from Soho to Islington with two heavy bags. All in the name of food eh? Definitely deserved the dinner after that.
Such is the tiny space at Oldroyd, I didn't even have space with my two huge bags to wait inside the restaurant, whilst they prepared my table. I had to wait outside. Not that I minded! Small = cosy and bustling and I love that atmosphere.
The choice of wines were great and reasonably priced. We found at least 3 wines we liked on a fairly small list! Small but well-chosen, clearly.
On to the food. Adding to the long list of restaurants in London using the "sharing" concept in their menus, there is a section for snacks and a section for small plates.
We started with cod's roe (another trend emerging amongst dishes in London - see Kitty Fisher's, Paradise Garage and many more...) and radish.
Essentially a version of taramasalata done very very well, this is a nice little intro to the meal.
We had the pea and pork belly croquettes, which were sensational. The best croquettes I've had in London, second only to Barrafina's crab croquettes. The flavour was intense, it wasn't just a cheesy mush with blobs of pork. It was fully stuffed with pork and large pieces of pea, all encrusted in a delicious crisp shell.
We then had the lamb meatballs, with almonds and pickled garlic. Not my first choice, I must admit. I'm not a meatball person, but boy these meatballs completely swayed me. Juicy, tender and full of flavour with a thick, sloppy romesco sauce which added to the pleasure of eating them.
My favourite of all the dishes was the crab tagliarni with brown crab rouille. Large chunks of crab were dispersed throughout the perfectly cooked pasta, piled high on the brown crab sauce. A forkful is not complete until you mopped up the brown crab sauce along with the pasta. Just delicious.
We also ordered the peach & cow curd panzanella, we were very tempted by the squid and confit rabbit paella, but it was a hot and humid day and we needed something light and fresh. Peach and any kind of soft cheese is always a wonderful mix of sweet and salty flavours, and the bread chunks were light and fluffy, fried balls like the lightest tempura instead of stodgy, hard bread. Runner beans and fresh raw lettuce added an extra crunch to the dish.
Zucchini fries (or courgette to the British) were crisp, not soggy and oh so moreish. Even the dining partner who didn't care to order them ate a good fistful!
The only slight dud was the stone fruit brioche pain perdu (a bread and butter pudding basically). Our stone fruit was an apricot, which was lovely, but the brioche was not all that moist, so needed lashings of the (delicious) vanilla ice cream to make it moist.
The chocolate mousse & salted pistachio praline however was a true beauty. The mousse, both light, rich and creamy at the same time, perfectly contrasted with salted pistachio praline adding texture and a layer of moreish salt to the addictive sweet and fresh rasperbbies cut through the chocolate and perfectly complement. What a wonderful end.
This cooking is a world away from Polpo (where the food does not amaze me too much, though the Pizza Bianca and the Fritto Misto are excellent). This food is interesting, full of big powerful flavors and textures.
Food: 9/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Service: 10/10
Overall 8.5/10
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