The Modern Pantry in Clerkenwell was a bona fide hit when it opened in 2008, so we weren’t surprised to hear of a second restaurant planned for Finsbury Square in the City. Having been fully open for two weeks now, we’ve been in for dinner to discover if Anna has done it again.
As with the original, The Modern Pantry’s Finsbury Square sibling is dedicated to sophisticated fusion food. It’s an attractive spot, housed in the Georgian Alphabeta Building: all high ceilings, arched windows and whitewashed walls. A stand-alone 20-seater tapas bar at the front is ideal for globally inspired lunchtime bites or late-night snacks: plump, proud seared scallop with burnt shallot purée, perhaps. A notable selection of sherries adds liquid allure.
Rob McLeary runs the kitchen, producing an all-day menu inspired by Hansen’s travels and Kiwi roots. To start, smoky burrata salad was offset by sweet golden beetroot and pickled greengages, dotted with crunchy toasted buckwheat. Equally pleasing was a dhansak-spiced rose veal mince omelette: the sweet meat enveloped by rich orange eggs. A main course of squid-ink battered Cornish cod looked striking, the black casing hiding tender white flesh, perfect for dunking in the crab mayo. For pud, dark chocolate fondant was exoticised by stout and caraway-seed ice cream and a cocoa chilli wafer: a great advert for fusion cooking.
The wine list is similarly wide-ranging, offering Italian, Kiwi and Californian sips. Rich pickings for City folk, then, who raid this Modern Pantry.
Hungry for more? Read our interview with Anna Hansen here.
Besides Anna Hansen’s new opening, Vietnamese street food restaurant Viet Food has also just opened on Wardour Street, Soho. Behind the stoves is former Hakkasan Mayfair chef de cuisine Jeff Tan, but has he sprinkled some Hakkasan magic here? Here’s our verdict…
In years gone by, this Chinatown site was home to an immensely rude family churning out delicious Chinese food. In its current guise it’s a far more welcoming place, serving less than delicious Vietnamese street food. Upon entering you’re greeted by the steam and clatter of the semi-open kitchen, a pleasing soundtrack to the ground floor. Stairs at the rear lead to a calmer first-floor dining room, and the whole outfit is fitted out in industrial metal and bamboo.
The menu runs from bites of Vietnamese standards such as sticky, fresh summer rolls and artlessly plain seafood pancakes to pho, noodle and rice dishes. Our pho was filling yet sparse on meat and flavour, but strangely tasty deep-fried seafood balls with a parmesan cheese filling demonstrate the kitchen’s sporadic creativity. Service is calm but a little disorganised, while prices are fair and the location is prime: this isn’t somewhere to make a special trip for, but passing footfall and an appealing vibe make this an atmospheric pitstop.
This article was published 29 September 2015