What can you tell me about the House of Wolf?
It's billed as a place for "pleasure-seeking gastronomes" and consists of a downstairs bar and music hall, first-floor Apothecary Bar serving up experimental cocktails and a top floor attic bar snug and dining room.
Where is it?
It's in a former music hall where Albert & Pearl used to be, at the top end of Upper Street, opposite Islington Town Hall.
Who's it suitable for?
Tough one this - on the face of it the whole place is a little slice of hipster heaven transplanted from East London to Islington's main drag. But the clientele we saw defied convention and ranged through every age from beardy boys in scarlet trews to silver-haired businessmen. That said, if there was a dress code here, it would be vintage. On the weekend it definitely switches to a younger, livier crowd downstairs, but we'd say the restaurant upstairs probably remains a respite from that.
Where should we meet for a drink first?
If you don't wish to start here, other good bars in the neighbourhood include Public House on Park Street which serves up great cocktails, as does the Three Sisters on Canonbury Lane - both are just minutes away. If, on the other hand, you'd rather work your way up through the building - starting with a beer at the bottom and a cocktail in the Apothecary Bar before landing in the dining room.
Alternatively, five minutes down the road is John Salt, also well worth visiting if you're in the area.
And where should we sit?
We were pleasantly suprised when we hit the top floor - the garret-style dining room is light and spacious with plenty of room between the tables. We liked our window seats looking out over Upper Street - but the room works well for both large groups and couples.
What should we order?
Each month features a new chef residency. Right now it's the turn of Blanch and Shock who'll actually be here a little longer than that - running through to Christmas.
We'd heard (and written) a lot about their pop-up exploits and were keen to try their food for ourselves finally. They're running a six course tasting menu for £45 of which some elements will change depending on what's available via their suppliers. On the night we were there, Isle of Bute dulse in course three was substituted for sea lettuce, which had just turned up.
We know that tasting menus have their fans and critics - but this evening's food reminded us (in a very good way) of the first time we tried the Young Turks food over at The Loft Project. Dishes ranged from simple - homemade wholegrain bread served up with two butters, whipped whey butter and hay butter - to standout. The wild mallard duck which came with with bitter scarlet hawberries and jeruselemm artichokes was served on a charred tree ring - with seared duck breast and a mound of confit duck covered by a glass full of smoke. The whole thing was an homage to bonfire night - fun and full of Autumnal flavour.
But we wouldn't want to forget the raw prawns sandwiched between transparent sheets of British lardo; or the sea bass cured in dill vinegar and served with celery cress which packed a flavour way out of proportion to its size.
And what about drinks?
We started our evening down in the Apothecary Bar - a very 'of the moment' place where service was very smiley, but could have done with being more professional - clearing our table of a previous drinker's glasses before serving ours would have been a good start. That said, the cocktails were fun and each came with a matching snack, so a bourbon sour came with glace cherries and popping candy to dip them in while a "black treacle" came with warm black pudding.
For dinner, we opted for the drinks pairing at £25 which ranged from coriander seed water to go with the bread to a fruity Omrah Pinot Noir with the duck and a Wolf Nog (Calvados, Pedro Ximinez, egg yolk and quince spirit) to go with the dessert. We thought this was a particularly inventive matching - but we've never yet had matching wines served at the same time as every course they're to go with and House of Wolf was no exception.
Overall thoughts?
We have to admit we were slightly worried that House of Wolf might be way too cool for school (and that we might feel woefully out of place) but we were actually delighted with our dinner here. The staff were friendly and really well versed with a complicated menu - able to explain the sourcing of ingredients as well as the ideas behind each course and its drinks pairing.
On a dreary Wednesday night it was completely packed and we're already making plans to return before Christmas while Blanch and Shock are still here.
House of Wolf, Upper Street, London N1
Prices were correct at time of writing. Hot Dinners were invited to eat at House of Wolf
