Please note, L'entrepot is now closed. Time Out Editors.
L’Entrepôt is much better than it looks. Which isn’t to say that this eastern outpost of Borough Wines doesn’t look promising: it does, with its shabby industrial chic, and wine for sale in the barrel and bottle. On weekdays, the kitchen is open only in the evening (grazing aside) and Saturdays and Sundays focus on brunch; add the fact that the group is best known as a small, fiercely independent wine merchant and you would be forgiven for assuming the food was merely a bolt-on.
Wrong. From interesting egg dishes to a three-course rotisserie menu, via a few French and Modern Euro bistro dishes, the kitchen staff know how to put an appealing menu together and deliver it to restaurant standards. Eggs benedict was so perfectly judged that we regretted not trying the oeufs en meurette (in red wine). Mallard breast with beetroot and potato gratin was flavour-packed; chips, bread and butter were, importantly, spot-on.
The wine list, sourced directly by Borough, is predominantly French and Spanish, with recognised appellations complemented by more off-piste bottles that the staff are delighted to contextualise – the seldom-found aramon grape in a sulphur-free Coteaux d’Ensérune from Languedoc did indeed deliver Rhône-like depth. A slightly older, laid-back Dalston crowd have adopted the place as their hangout.