Found in Shoreditch, just off Hoxton Square Park, Young Nola is a New Orleans-inspired restaurant known for flavourful Creole and Cajun cooking and a casual, contemporary atmosphere. The kitchen focuses on Louisiana dishes, adapted and adjusted for a London audience, rooted in slow cooking, careful spicing and well-established Southern recipes rather than trendy reinterpretations and gimmicks.
The dining room at Young Nola is compact and energetic, with a raw concrete ceiling, industrial style lighting, and usky pink and brown tones. There’s plenty of seating, with bentwood chairs organised around large and small tables, plus counter seating at the bar. It’s ideal for groups and small tables alike, complete with outdoor seating for summertime lunches and evening dinners.
The Young Nola menu is built around those signature Louisiana dishes. It kicks off with dishes ‘for the impatient ones’, complete with a range of quick small plates like fried okra with honey buffalo sauce, Louisiana chicken strips, Bayou fried shrim with sweet scotch ginger, and Cajun lemon pepper butter wings. Larger plates, meanwhile, might include a rich seafood gumbo, Louisiana fried chicken wings with fries and corn bread, and Louisiana slow-cooked beef short rib. Alternatively, if you’re looking to get a little messy, Young Nola periodically serves up seafood boils, depending on the quality of what’s available. When it’s gone, it’s gone.
From Friday to Sunday, the ‘Off The Smoker’ menu includes slow-smoked dishes like smoked beef short rib, smoked BBQ oxtail, goat rib, half chicken with corn bread, smoked aubergine with sweet potato and a mixed pepper plate, and a whole selection to share featuring a range of the above. To finish, desserts at Young Nola include classic candied yams served with vanilla whipped cream, and a roasted pear cobbler with cinnamon ice cream.