The Boundary hotel has long been one of the more civilised eating options in the maelstrom around Shoreditch High Street and owner Sir Terence Conran has updated the restaurant’s French theme by installing chef Stéphane Reynaud in the kitchen. Reynaud is the charcuterie king of France, raised in a family of pig farmers in the Ardèche and now spreading the porcine gospel through his nine cookbooks (including The Book of Tripe) and his two Paris restaurants. But while terrines, charcuterie and other piggy pleasures take centre stage – from a fabulous board of deep-flavoured cold cuts to a lip-smackingly sticky plate of suckling-pig sausage with dates and mash – there’s plenty for non-meat eaters to enjoy, whether a bowl of crisply fresh crudités with classy dips or slow-braised squid and toasted peanuts that gives the meat dishes a run for their money for richness. To finish, there’s a dimpled salted caramel pudding soaking up a bowl of custard; to drink, a snappy wine list, culled on a weekly basis from the hotel’s extensive cellar and neatly divided by style. Looks-wise, the dining room is much the same as before, a long, low basement vault, with bare brick walls supporting high ceilings, furnished with natty red chairs and understandably less appealing on a bright day than the hotel’s Boundary Rooftop. The charming staff, at least, do their best to bring the sunshine.