db eats: Jar Kitchen

While fanciful foams and exploding olives offer memorable moments of culinary theatre, every now and then you stumble upon a restaurant you feel genuinely at home in that you know instantly you’ll want to return to.

Jar Kitchen founders Jenny Quintero and Lucy Brown

I got this feeling when visiting newcomer Jar Kitchen on Drury Lane in Covent Garden, run by affable young duo Lucy Brown (a former model agent), and Jenny Quintero, who have left their feminine stamp on the quaint venue barely bigger than a coffee shop.

The neighbourhood café set up is ideal for its Covent Garden setting. Focusing on British seasonal ingredients sourced from local suppliers, the 45-cover “farm to fork” restaurant has a white tiled open kitchen and an honest feel, boasting a wall of flower-filled Kilner jars from which it takes its name.

Ceviche style sea bass with creamed avocado, fennel and seeds

Unassuming from the outside with a midnight blue façade, interiors are equally pared down, from the stripped wooden floors and low hung industrial lights to the wooden tables and chairs set so close to one another it makes earwigging on your neighbours’ conversations nigh on impossible to resist.

There’s a small amount of basement seating downstairs but all the fun happens up top in a space is given added cool by a soulful soundtrack.

Head chef Dominik Moldenhauer has good pedigree, having chalked up experience at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. Putting quality ingredients at the top of his priority list, among the suppliers used by Jar Kitchen are Rococo, Monmouth Coffee and Neals Yard Dairy.

Open from dawn till well beyond dusk, among the breakfast offerings are Earl Grey salmon, fried egg, hollandaise and pickled cucumber on rye or eggs and avocado on sourdough.

The one-page dinner menu is confidently brief. Dining with a wine trade friend, we began with the ox cheek and cheddar croquettes with aioli (£6), which were as addictive as crack. Crunchy, rich and oozing with cheese, we ended up fighting over the final blissful ball.

Next up for me came strips of ‘ceviche style’ sea bass with creamed avocado, chopped fennel and a seed dressing (£6.50), a symphony of green that brought out the synesthete in me as it even managed to taste green, its fresh, clean flavours cleansing my palate and sharpening my appetite.

Mixed-grain salad with braised lamb shoulder

My main event: an Ottolenghi-inspired mixed-grain salad with pomegranate pips, fresh mint leaves, toasted almonds, heirloom carrots and a drizzle of coconut yoghurt (£11.50) was given a Moorish twist with the addition of ribbons of baby-soft braised lamb shoulder, which managed to be both virtuous and decadent, offering a kaleidoscope of colour and texture, from the jewel-like pomegranate seeds and the cooling yoghurt to the succulent intensity of the lamb.

An apple and pear crumble pud (£6) meanwhile, was as comforting as a cuddle in its buttery, biscuity deliciousness. The wine list has been compiled by one to watch Matthew Wicksteed, who runs The Wine Cellars in Fulham and has recently started consulting for restaurants.

Among the gems on his list, which offers 15 wines by the glass, are a steely, mineral Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll Riesling from Emil Bauer; a spicy, red fruited Cinsault/Pais blend from Chile’s Itata Valley; and pretty, floral Provençal pink Minuty Prestige.

Jar Kitchen’s beauty lies in its simplicity. It isn’t trying to be flash, but instead specialises in inventive, delightful dishes made with fresh, punchy ingredients at fair prices.

With the arrival of a third Barrafina down the road and Café Murano on Tavistock Street, Covent Garden has seriously upped its game on the food front of late with sites that would satisfy even the fussiest of thesps.

Jar Kitchen, 176 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5QF; +44 (0)20 7405 4255