db eats: Beagle

It looks quite unobtrusive, and you might even miss it as you wander out of Hoxton station as the branding is quite discreet. Even when you are inside the restaurant, everything is understated and quiet.

The staff are friendly and switched on and service is snappy, suggesting an undercurrent of fast and furious activity below the laid back demeanour of the place.

After a preliminary glance at the menu, we decided to whet our appetites with a cocktail as the list was too good to be overlooked. I opted for the Silver Fox, while my plus one took the Beagle Martini – a Vesper of sorts with a range of spices in it. After the essential sampling of each others drinks, we found that we both preferred the others, so swapped. The Silver Fox was light with a hint of savoury, while the Beagle had the most intensely refreshing quality to it. The strong alcohols were balanced and revealed only their aromatic, floral notes without letting the full force of the abv weigh down the drink.

Once fortified by the expertly made cocktails, we felt in a more suitably condition to take on the serious task of choosing food.

The menu was nice and concise – simple, with the promise of excellence. Despite only a handful of options from which to choose, we struggled as all of them sounded very different and all excellent.

In the end I settled on the octopus with tomato and coriander, while my plus one went for the pigeon and prune terrine – with the understanding that we would be going halves on them.

As it was, I only very grudgingly gave up any of my poached-then-seared octopus with its tart, fresh tomatoes and zesty coriander salsa. This starter is going down as one of the best I’ve ever had. Not just because of the quality of it, but also because it so brilliantly demonstrated that simple, good ingredients cleverly mixed together really can create the most extraordinary results. The tomatoes were raw – just cut in half. The coriander sauce / salsa was so fresh and … well coriander-like that there can’t have been much else in there. And the octopus was fantastic. The two stages of cooking really worked its magic making the flesh soft and inviting, with the delicate flavour really coming to the fore. Despite (or possibly because of) the simplicity, there really was magic happening there on the plate.

This is not to mean that the other starter wasn’t also extremely good. My plus one who normally lives in France declared the terrine was ‘Frencher than French’ with lovely generous chunks of meat that had actually absorbed the flavour of the prunes, rather than the two just happily – but independently – coexisting in the dish which so often happens.

Regarding the wine, as we were having a light starter and heavy, red meat main, we went for a glass with each course rather than committing to one bottle. We opted for a glass of Loire Chardonnay for the starter, as I had imaged the octopus with a much stronger, richer sauce. As it was, the wine did very little for my starter, although it did complement the terrine nicely. As soon as my plate was cleared, and I had a sip on its own, it was suddenly much more enjoyable.

For the mains, I went for a bavette with duck fat chips and horseradish, and my plus one went off-menu for the daily special which was a leg of lamb with red onion, anchovy sauce and chard, all washed down with a glass of Mas Theo Grenache / Syrah 2010.

Here, I had to doff my cap to the superior choice of my plus one. The lamb was delicious. Soft, full flavoured and cooked to perfection with fantastically crisp skin. As with the octopus starter, the flavours of every ingredient had been carefully considered before being added and each brought a subtle hint of complexity. Just as with the general feel of the restaurant, on paper, the recipe was simple, but there was so much more to it than that – understanding how to best prepare the ingredients, ratios, and how to get the best out of them through the cooking process.

The bavette was lovely – well cooked and tender. The meat wasn’t as exceptional in flavour as the lamb, but that’s presumably why the lamb was the special. The chips were crisp through and tasty and the fresh horseradish really packed a punch. Our Kohlrabi side was again packed full of fresh, aromatic ingredients that tasted like dewy spring herbs with the texture of crisp cabbage.

The portions were good as well, with just enough to get the juices flowing for the starter, and then lashings for the main to ensure you feel suitably full to an almost decadent level.

The wine worked a treated with both of the meats, revealing lovely generous black and red ripe fruit in a very sophisticated manner.

We eventually moved on to desert which had the uncanny ability of making us feel less full, thanks to the chef’s light touch which made the panna cotta and blood orange as light as air, and even the almond and rhubarb tart came across as fresh and light.

Every dish that we had was intelligently put together and clearly carefully considered. No unnecessary ingredients, however en vogue they may be, were added unless they really made a positive impact to the dish.

It was extremely refreshing to have some timelessly good food that had obviously had a lot of work put into it previously to ensure it was as good as it possibly could be.

In addition to this, the wine list was thorough with a good-by-the-glass offering, and the cocktails were good enough to merit a trip up to the depths of Hoxton for them alone.

The price was very reasonable, the ingredients top notch, and the service and general ambiance was all highly commendable. But I’m not alone in thinking that – on a casual Tuesday evening the place was rammed, so if you’re keen get in early or book.