Sagardi is a Basque-inspired restaurant headed up by Iñaki López de Viñaspre. Located in the trendy area of Shoreditch, the restaurant is well-positioned in one of London’s food hubs. The focus of the menu at Sagardi is simplicity, and a devotion to quality ingredients, alongside wines and hard ciders from the Basque country, and of course the roaring Basque grill, which is the true heart of the restaurant.
Oysters are a good way to start at Sagardi, alongside some Iberian ham croquettes or grilled morcilla from Biscay for good measure. From the grill, fish options include cod with Biscay sauce, red tuna or octopus with vegetables, as well as monkfish, turbot and seabass by the 100g. Meatier options include duck breast, beef sweetbreads with artichokes or farmhouse pork ribs.
From the “Grandma’s Cooking” section, there are more traditional dishes. These include Donostia style seafood soup, “Roxario” cod omelette, brown crab “txangurro” San Sebastian style, stuffed baby squid cooked in their own ink and braised suckling lamb trotters with Espelette pepper.
Alternatively, there is a tasting menu. This features highlights from the menu including “txistorra” (Basque sausage), “Txuleton vaca” matured beef and a selection of artisan Basque cheeses. Desserts at Sagardi follow the theme of traditional cuisine with options like “Torrija”, a bread, milk, sugar and cinnamon biscuit with sheep milk ice cream. There is also a range of sweet Basque wines available, the perfect accompaniment.
Sagardi also offers a Sunday lunch, featuring dry aged boneless Txuleton beef from retired Basque dairy cows, served with home-grown vegetables, beef dripping potatoes, homemade Yorkshire puddings and gravy. The wine list showcases bottles from the Basque region, as well as cocktails like dry Martinis, bloody Marys, negronis and more. Basque hard cider is a specialty here, available in 150 and 750ml pours.