Harden's survey result
Summary
A hipster hit of recent years, Jeremie Cometto-Lingenheim and David Gingell’s “lively”, hard-surfaced operation off the Holloway Road has built a strong following for its zeitgeisty style, matched with “inventive and well-presented” fish and seafood cooking, with ingredients from ‘regenerative producers’, and an “interesting” list of low-intervention wines. “I’m not a great fan of small plates but we decided to have every dish on the menu – and it has to be said they were all excellent.”
Summary
“Innovative food” in a “hard and echoey” space still packs in the crowds at this hipster hit of a couple of years ago, just off the Holloway Road, which fans feel has a “great vibe” (even despite the fact that “when the place is full, conversation can be close to impossible”). The venue has always had its detractors, though, and there were more vocal complaints this year that the whole approach is “a little too cool for its own good” (i.e. “pleased with itself” and “disappearing up its own fundament”); which results in food that’s “not bad but underwhelming, so hard to see what all the fuss is about”. Also the natural wine list, “while pleasingly ambitious and different, has a high percentage of misses” (to the extent it can seem “plain daft”).
Summary
“Innovative food” in a “hard and echoey” space still packs in the crowds at this hipster hit of a couple of years ago, just off the Holloway Road, which fans feel has a “great vibe” (even despite the fact that “when the place is full, conversation can be close to impossible”). The venue has always had its detractors, though, and there were more vocal complaints this year that the whole approach is “a little too cool for its own good” (i.e. “pleased with itself” and “disappearing up its own fundament”); which results in food that’s “not bad but underwhelming, so hard to see what all the fuss is about”. Also the natural wine list, “while pleasingly ambitious and different, has a high percentage of misses” (to the extent it can seem “plain daft”).
Summary
“You feel cool just knowing about this place!” – “a packed and unbelievably noisy room just off the Holloway Road”, which – on its launch in 2017 – scored some of the best newspaper critic reviews of the year. With its “edgy and friendly” approach and “urban, industrial-style decor”, it’s indisputably “a great addition to Drayton Park” but “after all the hype” numerous reporters felt anticlimactic: “nothing really bad” but “flavours didn’t always work together” and “while small plates are fashionable, these aren’t small, they’re tiny!” Tons of praise is recorded, too, though – “take your friends and dine on sharing plates, whose powerful and memorable tastes are so good you’ll want to scoff them all and not share!” Top Tip: “It’s best as a foursome, as couples may be squashed on the long sharing tables”.
For 31 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
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Restaurant details
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £27.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £3.00 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 12.50% |
34 Drayton Park, London, N5 1PB
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | 5:30 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Wednesday | 5:30 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Thursday | 5:30 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Friday | 5:30 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 5:30 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 5:30 pm‑9 pm |
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