Meet EC1

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“Is that ‘ee’ or ‘ea’?” The location overlooking Smithfield's famously carnivorous market might make you assume the latter, but the former better describes the purpose behind this nifty new venue. In case you miss the pun, though, the place’s logo is a cow.

An inconspicuous street frontage lends the external appearance of a fairly small, perhaps even nondescript, café/bar. Once inside, though, there’s more space than you might expect, and it becomes apparent the décor is quite funky and stylish, with fake hide much used in jazzing up various surfaces (most eye-catchingly the light fittings).

Some staff seemed on our visit to be conscientiously nursing a hangover, which added to a sense of escape from the mid-week working world. Fellow lunchers seemed to soak up this relaxed vibe. Even so, none were sampling the extensive cocktail menu. The mixologist here is, however, of some repute and the drinks list looked good. The upper two floors provide a dedicated drinking space, and a club.

The menu is short, and – though there are steak and burger options – the focus is light dishes with a strong Asian slant. The brevity of the selection raised the thought that the food would be no more than incidental, but – though the dishes are simple – the kitchen clearly knows its stuff. Tuna steak (so often mediocre) was especially satisfying – grilled with care and served in an easy-going soy-based broth with crunchy snap peas and bok choi. Chunky chips were sufficiently good to encourage more consumption than is truly decent or necessary. The dessert-of-the-day was perhaps not the world‘s greatest-ever piece of cheesecake but – at three quid – who could complain? In fact, prices so easy on the wallet help make Meet a pretty neat destination.