Open kitchened French gastronomic theatre
Location: Islington
Cuisine: French / Modern European
Budget: ££
Located in a residential area of N1 this small bistro seating around 30 covers is a gem not to be missed. As you satisfy your taste buds you can marvel at the chefs whipping up fantastic dishes from the completely open kitchen.
The menu is small but for good reason as each dish achieves a good balance of flavours and comes beautifully presented.
I chose the pheasant roulade with shimeji and oyster mushrooms, swede, radish and rosemary to start – a delicious combination of earthy flavours. Whereas Charlie had the scorched red mullet with carrot, leek, baby fennel and orange, a pleasant but not outstanding dish.
For main I tried the fillet of stone bass, potato terrine, wakame, beurre blanc and squid ink. The fish was delicate and sweet, and the potato terrine the perfect mix between fluffy and crunchy. My only slight criticism would be that there was a little too much beurre blanc for my tastes. Charlie’s mallard breast with parsley root, confit swede and madeira sauce was outstanding though. I admit there was some definite food envy as I tried to nab some before he devoured it all!
To finish I, of course, opted for the cheese plate; offering five interesting and delicious cheeses – Sharpham’s goat’s brie, Rouelle (
), Fleur de Maquis, Napoleon Vieux and Crozier Blue. I loved the presentation of a detailed cheese list giving a little story about the production of each cheese and accompanying tasting notes.
Having seen preparation of the spun sugar globe that sat atop the chocolate spheres and sour cherries in Salut’s open kitchen, Charlie couldn’t resist, and we were pleasantly surprised that the dish wasn’t as rich or sickly as one might imagine (and it was highly photogenic!)
Instead of ordering a bottle of wine to share with the meal, we instead had various wines by the glass to complement each of our delicious plates, a great way to try more wines! There are a limited number of wines available by the glass but all of those we tried were spectacular, and a little different to the norm, I would highly recommend the Soave.
The overall experience at Salut, accentuated by the extremely attentive but unobtrusive service, was a very delightful one, and one I will be recommending to my friends.
Find Out More…
Salut!- http://salut-london.co.uk/
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