A little blast of shabby chic on a very urban stretch of road. Diners sit on old school chairs at wooden tables, each with a little flowering pot plant; boxes of veg are piled at the end of the open kitchen; and a sign advertises eggs for sale. At weekends, it’s lively all day long. Brunch majors on eggs served lots of ways, including scrambled with chorizo and roasted tomatoes.
The regularly changing lunch menu features some lighter dishes such as good serrano ham with guindilla peppers and sourdough toast, as well as the likes of moules marinière. The kitchen shifts up a gear for dinner, with robust combinations such as pan-fried cod fillet with chorizo, fino and fennel broth with fried potatoes, or braised rabbit leg – which came with a white wine cream sauce that had a deftly light lemony touch that didn’t dominate the distinctive taste of the meat. Smooth, buttery mash completed the picture. Pomegranate and pistachio mess was glorious: light, not too sweet and – best of all – with nicely sticky meringue.
Service is informal (and occasionally offhand), but in general this place scores well for feelgood factor. You can also catch the ALOFYF team serving weekday lunches at the French House pub in Soho.