LONDON NEW EATS III Mari Vanna
With the number of Russians in town, and specifically around the Knightsbridge area, it was only a matter of time before a Russian restaurant moved in. Enter this kitsch all-day option, which already has bases in St. Petersburg, Moscow and New York and offers an experience akin to dining in your babushka’s front room. Named after a mythical babushka (grandmother), Mari Vanna has wasted no spare ceiling, wall or shelf as somewhere to hang chandeliers, tchotchke (knick-knacks), and many other hundreds of objects evoking times past. It’s stacked full of stuff, from an antique bicycle in the hallway to crocheted place mats on the tables. But how is granny’s cooking? Very traditional. A basket of excellent rye breads and nibbles whets the appetite as you peruse the menu. Diners seeking their dumpling fix should save room for the pelmeni. These dumplings are exemplary, with taut pasta cases around springy, juicy fillings.
Shrimpy’s
In the burgeoning culinary hot spot that is King’s Cross, the folks behind cool East Ender Bistrotheque have scored a blinder with their new place. Located in an old filling station, it’s now giving diners their fill of what’s being called Calexican (Cali-Mexican) fare all day from 11 AM. Pablo Flack and David Waddington of the Bistrotheque bar-restaurant, and veterans of the pop-up restaurant scene run Shrimpy’s. They’ve gone for smart American food that pays homage to down-home food, yet is quite unlike it. A glazed burger bun is filled with soft-shell crab that’s deep-fried to give crunch, the aroma of the fryer, and a slight seafood taste; the result is evocative of an upscale fish finger sandwich. What really makes the place a destination diner is the striking design, the beautiful canal-side setting, and the undeniable cool factor. They’ve done a great job on what will only be a two-year pop-up.
Tramshed
The expansion of the Mark Hix domain has gone into overdrive this year with an in-hotel eatery popping up in the new Thompson Hotel and this huge, airy Shoreditch entry, where diners choose three sharing starters and then follow them up with a choice of either chicken or beef. For your main course you’ll be getting either a whole roast chicken or steak (as it comes or over salad). There’s something liberating about having so little choice - you only have to look at the wildly successful Burger & Lobster to see that - but a narrow repertoire puts pressure on the kitchen to deliver excellence. Hix has gone back to basics. The turn-of-thecentury Grade II-listed industrial building (which once housed the local tram track’s electricity generators) has been stripped back, allowing the vast room and soaring ceiling to do the talking. Light comes in through an enormous arched window, while mezzanine levels break up the floor space. In pride of place is a work by Hix’s pal Damien Hirst: the artist’s signature formaldehyde-filled tank containing a preserved bullock and rooster. source: http://blog.zagat.com, www.timeout.com/london