Looking into Saltine (that's the bar area at the front)
What do we need to know about Saltine?
This is the hot new neighbourhood restaurant from the folks behind Fink's - a growing cluster of excellent coffee shops in North and East London. Matt and Jess opened the first, Fink's Sweet & Salt, back in 2014 where for a while it was both a coffee shop by day and a restaurant by night. Covid put paid to that and they've focused on the coffee, sandwiches and pastries side of things since then. Now, with the opening of Saltine, they've had the opportunity to once again tackle a restaurant.
Where is it?
You'll find it in the foodie hub that is Highbury Barn, across the road from La Fromagerie, next door to Bourne's fishmongers and two doors down from master butchers Godfreys. The nearest tube is Highbury and Islington. Locals who know the street well will be frankly boggled by the arrival of this elegant, and large, restaurant in what used to be an old pizza/chicken shop. It's a real tardis of a space, opening right up at the back.
The large skylight in the dining room was what made Mat and Jess decide this was the space for them and that means it'll be a lovely spot for lunch too with all that natural light.
Where should we meet for a drink first?
The obvious answer might appear to be the local boozer The Highbury Barn but there's actually a large bar space at the front of Saltine that would be perfect for sipping on a shiso martini while you wait for your friends to turn up.
What sort of food is it?
Running the kitchen here is chef Phil Wood who was previously at St John in Marylebone and also Spring. Here his menu is "led by provenance, joyful cooking and sustainability". That means a regularly changing list of dishes and a menu that was already markedly different from the launch menu when we visited on week two.
Here's what we had to give you a flavour:
Mozzarella and anchovy croquettes (£7) - if you can resist croquettes on the menu then you're stronger than us.
Pickled mackerel on rye (£6) - the perfect pre-meal snack
Brandade with a soft egg on toast (£14) - a lovely, comforting starter
Roast mutton with carrots and caraway butter (£27) - the menu lists all the restaurant's producers and this is from speckle-faced mutton from Farmer Tom Jones.
What's on the menu for vegetarians?
We had two outstanding veggie dishes here that we feel would make this well worth a trip for any local plant-forward foodie.
Pumpkin scapece with roast hazelnuts and ricotta salata (£13) - that pumpkin is slow-roasted before being given a light pickling.
Swiss chard and gubbeen gratin with girolles (£22) - a great winter warmer of a dish.
Room for dessert?
There were three options when we visited, a mandarin sorbet with jelly and these:
Chocolate mousse with candied kumquats and arlettes (£10)
Sticky toffee apple cake (£10) - a glorious dessert, not quite as heavy as a traditional sticky toffee pudding and very much giving an autumnal vibe.
What about the drinks list?
There's a brief cocktail range - we can highly recommend those shiso martinis - along with a properly considered no and low selection too. Wines start at £38 for entry-level white, pink and red and the list while it veers towards low intervention isn't solely so. Our Tete en l'air Chardonnay from the Languedoc, recommended to us for its minerality, was fabulous at £40 and both vegan and low intervention.
Anything else we should know?
Forget Mayfair's glitzy wall-to-wall carrara marble loos, the bathrooms here decorated by artist Mark Kindersley are a triumph.
Overall thoughts:
What an absolutely lovely neighbourhood gem Saltine is (we hear that local food legend Nigel Slater's already been in). However, don't just leave this to the Highbury massive to enjoy - this one's very much worth a trip to whether you're coming for a lunch pre-food haul or fancy an elegant night out.
More about Saltine
Where is it? 11 Highbury Park, London N5 1QJ
How to book: book online here
Find out more: Follow them on Instagram @saltine.london
Hot Dinners dined as guests of Saltine. Prices correct at time of publication.
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