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db Eats: Rök Islington
Less than a year after Rök opened in Shoreditch, the second incarnation has opened up the road in Islington. db went to check it out.
The concept: Curing/brining, fermenting, pickling, smoking and cocktail-making – that’s the essence of what Nordic-inspired Rök does. Its new locale, Upper Street, Islington, is awash with dining options – a new venue seems to open – and close – every other week. But with a laidback atmosphere, a lusty food offering and a team of cheerful, well-trained staff – along with some creative cocktails and excellent organic/biodynamic wines – Rök has what it takes to stand out and sustain.
The décor: It’s simple, functional, undemonstrative: whitewashed walls, wooden table tops and chairs (which will please those who frequent the Curtain Road restaurant, where the little stools aren’t to everyone’s liking), piles of logs stacked up in front of the small open kitchen to fuel the grill. They’ve laid some dark wood flooring, installed skylights – all very clean and earthy, all very Nordic. More space, too, than at Curtain Road – they can do up to 46 covers here, only 36 in Shoreditch.
Grilled scallop
Food: It’s a simple menu – four starters, four mains (all fish or meat – sorry veggies), with four sides – the waiters are all well versed in the appropriate combinations of dishes and drinks.
As an appetiser, choose from a variety of pickles (some sweeter, some more sour), perhaps paired with one of Rök’s fine cocktails (more on those below). Pickled gherkins and shallots make happy partners for a dirty Hendrick’s Martini (not on the menu but made up on request by bar manager Sam with a dash of pickling liquor) and tickle the appetite for the main event.
With the focus on smoking, pickling, curing and fermenting, the dishes are all hearty and strong-flavoured, but always with an intelligent use of contrasts: rich, smoky pigeon is given an acidic lift by gooseberry jam, a deeply savoury rump steak (eight-year-old Dexter beef hung for eight weeks) comes with creamed cow’s curd and a refreshing herb vinegar, a side of burnt sweet potato offsets the charry bitterness with horseradish crème fraiche.
Drinks: The list is small in straightforward. All organic or biodynamic, minimal intervention; two fizz (including a lovely, salty lemon colfondo Prosecco from Sottoriva), six white, six red (cheapest three of each served by the 125, 175 or 250ml glass), plus one orange wine. All but the orange (Testalonga Baby Bandito from cult South African natural winemaker Craig Hawkins) are from France, Italy or Spain. More wines are set to be added as the restaurant beds in. The cheapest white is £26, cheapest red £22. If you’re looking for a bargain, you can never go wrong with Rafa Bernabe’s Tragolargo Monastrell. There’s also a small selection of London craft beers available.
Then the cocktails. These are good. Similar to Curtain Road, a Rök cocktail bar is part of the plan and is due to open next-door to the restaurant in September. They don’t have a name for it yet (they’re toying with Beside the Smoke, echoing Below the Smoke from Curtain Road), but the list – created by Matt Whiley (Peg + Patriot, Talented Mr Fox) – is looking good: an Earth & Trees Martini mixes burnt beetroot vodka, birch sap shrub and vermouth; Seasonal Bones raises eyebrows with its combination of duck bone distillate, Great King Street Whisky, plum vermouth and Griotte.
In the restaurant, a special house cocktail changes each week. I had a refreshing, punchy ‘One Mile Hike’ – a mix of gin, St Germain, Benedictine, Fernet Branca, grapefruit juice and bitters, and lemon juice.
Signature dishes: Scallop with nduja and samphire – the scallop cooked over flame (see above) in its shell, served on a bed of spicy njuja with seaweed. Chef Matt Young points out that everything is sourced from the British Isles (the nduja is made just up the road by Cobble Lane Cured), and that this his definitely his ‘go-to’ dish.
Who to know: Friendly young bar manager Sam is well versed in what’s on offer not just on the drinks list but also the food menu. He likes to be creative with his cocktail-making so if you fancy something that’s not on the list, put him to the test.
Don’t leave without: Trying at least one cocktail, and their peanut butter ice cream for the 40ft Pale Ale peanut butter ice cream and dark chocolate mousse dessert. Churned each day for each service, it’s the absolute nuts and you will want to eat it every day afterwards.
Rök: 149 Upper St, London N1 1RA