You know those times that you are so close to somewhere that you end up forgetting to visit it? The same happened to me with St. John’s – I work near Liverpool Street and despite a multitude of recommendations I would always get distracted by the stalls at Spitalfields Market to venture out that far, but as I’m imminently moving jobs and will soon be based in West London, I decided it was finally the time to visit. I had a lunch catch-up with a good friend from work, and over a glass of tasty Beaujolais I ranted about my stresses and we discussed everything from Gothic architecture to garden hoses, as homeowners do!

The original St John (located on St John Street in Smithfields) was the brainchild of chef Fergus Henderson and won a Michel star, and who is famous for bringing the concept of ‘head to tail‘ cooking back to Britain – using all parts of an animal to cook with, as had been traditional for many centuries before we all foolishly turned up our noses on ox hearts and pig cheeks. It was praised by the likes of Anthony Bourdain, and in 2003 he opened this St. John Bread and Wine as a sister restaurant.

The restaurant is in a very airy well-lit building, comparatively understated and unpretentious for the area. I’m interested who let them stamp their name on the cement just outside though haha.

Dishes came as they were ready, the first was what I would describe a refreshing cabbage salad, (I LOVE red cabbage and have a recipe that I will share for a superb coleslaw), it is a perfect side to any meal and so great for your gut. I will need to recreate their version now that I have a professional mandolin slicer (seriously life changing).

Next came the smoked cod roe, which was delightful. Slightly smoky and fishy, but not overpowering and very light in texture. It went really well with the egg and the toasted bread gave it a great texture.

Next was what I would describe as a pork scratching salad. It was an interesting combination, I really love chicory which can be a bit bitter but the dressing balanced things out nicely. They seem to really love capers here – which is great because so do I!

At this point we realised we had room for more but not a whole main, so we ordered a few more small dishes.

I had seen pictures of the Welsh Rarebit and thought it looked delicious. I was hesitant to get it because I thought it would be quite stodgy, but because the bread was so fluffy it was actually rather light. For those who don’t know Welsh Rarebit is basically cheesy toast – ‘Rarebit’ is a corruption of ‘Rabbit’, but there is no rabbit in it. Apparently, it’s not even Welsh and it was called that disparigingly, but the joke is on them because in my head I now credit the Welsh for inventing cheese toast!

I am such a sucker for a good pâté – I don’t know what it is about it but I had lots of it as a child. Duck is typically my favourite, and I hadn’t really tried chicken liver before but it was delicious. The brandied prune was a nice touch and gave a good balance of sweetness, while the cornichons added a refreshing finish at the end.

I am not much of a pudding person – I find most either so sweet that they aggravate my teeth, and others so stodgy that they send me into a food coma, but these freshly baked madelines were the perfect way to end a light meal. I’m ashamed to admit that I never had a fresh madeline before, so I always associated them with those ones you get in the shop that taste like muffin and leave a nasty coat of baking soda on your teeth! These however were absolutely divine. They require a 15 minute wait but are served warm and fresh out of the oven. Not to be missed (you can also take either a half dozen or a whole dozen of them home).

So all in all, I was very impressed – it was basically a British Bouchon (Bouchon’s are a type of restaurant found only in Lyon, the gastronomy capital of France/the world, which I visted last year). I am excited to come back here for dinner when I have more room to try their pies which I’ve heard amazing things about.

Note that this restaurant sadly didn’t have the famous bone marrow on the menu – if you want that you will need to venture to the original one in Smithfield – it’s next on my list!

⚜️ Rowan

£60+pp (with wine) a little pricey for what you get, but worth it, I recommend getting at least something you normally wouldn’t try because you know it will be executed to perfection.

My rating: 9/10

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