Beagle is one of those restaurants that has been sitting pretty in a few railway arches in Shoreditch for a few years now. In one arch a coffee shop, the others a bar and dining room. On our Friday lunchtime visit there was a relaxing, chilled-out vibe about the place.
The menu was concise but the type that read particularly well. Lamb tongue, white beans, wild garlic and anchovy (£6.80) wouldn’t I guess be to everyone’s taste but I for one love a bit of tongue. Here it had a glorious crust to the outside with a soft, fatty centre.
Asparagus, egg, butter and Berkswell (£8.60) was a lovely thing; simplicity at its best. Essex asparagus, having a sweeter taste than the usual Wye Valley, topped with a poached egg and grated cheese – you don’t need much more than that really.
Staying on the simple side of things, wood grilled onglet (pronounced ‘onglet’ or ‘onglay’?) and Jersey royals (£16.95) was SO up my street. The chunks of rare meat had been doused in a smoked bone marrow butter adding a wonderful richness to it all.
A giant piece of cod, pistachio and preserved lemon (£17), like most things in life, didn’t need the accompanying kohlrabi. The flavour of the lemon with pistachio was an unusual pairing for fish but one most successful.
For dessert, a twice baked chocolate cake with yoghurt (£7.80) was decent but it was the croissant pudding with marmalade (£7.50) that made me want to do that cringey Dad dance that Gregg Wallace does on Masterchef. It really was a spectacular pudding and one which I demand you go and try for yourself.
Beagle has recently appointed a new chef and things in the kitchen appear to be going well. The setting is charming, service is friendly and the food is the sort, with a nice glass of wine, that leaves you feeling well looked after.
We dined as guests of the restaurant.
Did you like the pics? We were loaned a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge for a couple of weeks to test drive the camera and it truly is amazing. It helps even a novice like me take some rather beautiful shots.