Eastside Inn: 'The best restaurant to open in ages'

Rating: 4/5

In a year where major restaurant openings are as rare as honest MPs, launching a ­restaurant as roomy and posh as Smithfield’s ­Eastside Inn is a bold move.

Headed by ex-Ramsay ­starlet Bjorn van der Horst (­formerly at La Noisette), this restaurant/bistro on the site of Vic Naylor’s offers food ranging from the not cheap to, er, the unfashionably expensive.

Once you get your food, though, the launch makes perfect sense. It’s the best ­restaurant to open in London for ages, serving food so great that I woke up thinking about it. Two nights running.

Before I gush further, a bit about the set-up. The Inn has two dining rooms with ­separate entrances, linked by an open kitchen. On the right is a full-blown fancy palace serving top-end grub (£45 for three courses, without wine) plus a shower of amuse-bouches.

On the left is a larger (slightly) cheaper bistro ­dishing up earthier, simpler meals at about £35 a head without wine.

"It’s the best ­restaurant to open in London for ages"

In both, the food (broadly modern French with plenty of Spanish and some Scandinavian influence) is unfussy – and phenomenal.

In the restaurant, a trio of pre-meal bits started things spiffingly: toast with ­part-cooked foie gras slivers, an odd mouthful of hot brawn, Sevruga caviar and cornichon, and a little tomato granita swamped with white almond gazpacho, all ­showing a perfect balance between creative flair (pork and caviar) and understatement (that ­irresistibly plain foie gras). Later, my main of turbot with morels, samphire and champagne veloute boasted of delicate hands in the kitchen, the rich, tangy flavours never swamping the simple fish.

The bistro isn’t too bad, ­either. Save a slightly rubbery starter of squid with peppers, its more rustic dishes were a dream. Bone marrow and ­oxtail marmalade on toast were juicy, cut through ­brilliantly with a crackle of ­orange. The dish of the day was a gorgeous Catalan ­concoction called All Cramat – fat prawns swimming in a bouillabaisse that released intense garlic and saffron steam.

Quirky desserts are ­sprinkled with tongue-prickling space dust – the ­bistro’s dense but light ­chocolate mousse with tonka bean ice cream was probably the best of a fine batch.

For a posh spot, Eastside Inn’s decor is muted beige, while the bistro has stripped-down Parisian-style bench seating and huge mirrors that give the room sparkle. Service is smiley and sweet, giving the place a relaxed, easy atmosphere. All told, it’s delightful. Indeed, it might just be the fancy restaurant for people who hate fancy restaurants.

Eastside Inn, 40 St John Street, EC1, 020 7490 9230, Tube: Farringdon

Meal for two: £130 (Bistro: 020 7490 9240 Meal for two: £90)