Say foodie to many Londoners and they may respond ‘Borough Market.’ Say on-trend districts to the same audience and many might reply ‘Hackney.’ Surprise, surprise then that the two venues operating as Elliot’s appear within the confines of… Borough Market and Hackney. Food is all sourced from the former with a strong emphasis on the fashions du jour: local and seasonal. Visit the Borough venue (as we did) and you will be confronted with exposed brickwork, mismatched fittings and a sassy kind of New York vibe. There’s natural wine too. It’s almost all too achingly cool.
Despite your reviewer’s inherent scepticism, he was, however, impressed by Elliot’s. Beyond the superb people-watching spectacle (both inside the venue and out), it’s the sheer quality of the food that makes Elliot’s a winner. Although the principles behind the restaurant may chime with the contemporary zeitgeist, the food is reassuringly robust; the sort of meal that you know might clog your arteries, but you almost don’t care because it’s so good.
My comrade for the meal had been a prior visitor to Elliot’s and so I relied on his recommendations, all of which delivered. We shared a trio of snacks to begin: Cantabrian anchovy toast (pictured), San Daniele prosciutto and Isle of Mull cheese puffs. They appeared in this order and each surpassed the previous. The delicate decadence of the latter lingered long after. Pair the puff with the prosciutto for an even better experience. I almost want to visit the Isle of Mull now, as this offering – or at least as rendered by Elliot’s – may now have become my favourite snack in London. While some of the subsequent small plates tempted (such as a venison sausage coil or the veal tartare with tonnato), we went straight to the steak for our main option. Elliot’s is quite explicit in stating that their beef is not only aged for 40 days, but it’s also ex-dairy stock. The resulting meat offers much more depth and a greater grassy, herbal or milky richness – and it wasn’t just my imagination – compared with the offerings available at Hawksmoor, Gaucho et al. Beyond this dish, the grilled hispi cabbage and harissa side deserves an honourable mention as an inspired foil to the steak; certainly more interesting than the more traditional offering of greens. With regards to the wine, it’s natural or nothing. Sure, drinkers have to overcome the cloudiness of the contents and the fizz on the palate but dig beneath this and we could taste the Syrah and Carignan in our southern French blend. Pricing throughout is very fair. Although there’s no shortage of dining options in either Borough or Hackney, they may not all be as satisfying as Elliot’s.