I’ve been a lover of Maltby Street for quite some time now; it’s a weekend food market which has real charm and character. There’s a good reason to pay the area a visit on weekday evenings too however and it goes by the name of 40 Maltby Street.
Predominantly the company is a wine supplier but they’ve since turned the front of their warehouse, under a railway arch, into a cute little restaurant. As they don’t take bookings we turned up on a Thursday evening and there was only space for us to perch on stool at a make-shift table on the entrance mat. It wasn’t the least bit comfortable but the food was so good I would have gladly eaten it in a portaloo.
To start, crispy flower sprouts and yoghurt (£7.50) seemed a little expensive but then again they were bloomin tasty. A more tangier replacement for the yoghurt would have suited the deep fried sprouts (a hybrid of kale and brussel sprouts) a little better though.
Brown shrimp, raw kohlrabi and chervil (£7.50) would have only been bettered by the addition of more of those lovely little shrimp. They brought such flavour to the rather simple tasting kohlrabi, we just wanted more of them.
Pork and prune pie (£7) was a thick slab of cold pork pie which was simply excellent. The quality of the pork was sublime. Egg mayonnaise (£5) was a classic flavour combination yet presented in a way I’ve not seen before. It even gave Zédel’s (and we all know how much I love theirs) a run for its money.
Warm roast lamb, anchovy, Jerusalem artichoke and mint (£15) was a brilliant plate of food. The little artichoke crisps added texture against the soft, succulent lamb.
The best was yet to come however; beef cheek vol-au-vent, salsify and horseradish (£11). Big, bold, hearty and utterly sexy, but enough about me, this beef cheek encased in the most crumbly and buttery pastry ever shall go down as one of my favourite dishes of all time.
For dessert, we opted for the apple batter pudding with Jersey cream (£6), which was good, and the brown sugar meringue, rhubarb and blood orange (£6), which was phenomenal. A chewy meringue with both cream and ice cream along with blood orange and rhubarb to add some sharpness; utter bliss.
It was really hard not to fall in love with 40 Maltby Street. Not only was the food a little bit outstanding but the service was really sweet and charming too. If you haven’t been yet, then you really should be asking yourself why not.
9/10
