It’s cheering to see The Empress, Victoria Park Village’s most serious restaurant, looking flush with youth again. New owners (Tom & Ed Martin moved on in summer 2011) have given her a subtly hip makeover, replacing the mural & shell chandeliers & adding school chairs & a signed Gilbert & George poster. Menus, too, are of the moment, organised around charcuterie, bar snacks, ‘little dishes’, ‘bigger plates’ & ingredients bought locally (E5 Bakehouse bread, Jonathan Norris fish). ‘Simple seasonal food with a nod to the Med’ is how it’s described, which might mean excellent ham croquetas, char-grilled squid & peperonata, or T-bone steak & chips. Good wines (heaps by the glass) provide the back-up. If the new owners can do something – anything! – about the occasionally hapless service, The Empress will rule again.
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