2 Crispin Place
E1 6DW
Tel: 0845 686 1122
Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, November 9, 2005
The Victims: Con Ann, Canadia Boy
The Damage: 25 quid pro Nase
Natalie’s husband was having a business/pleasure type of get-together for his new business and someone else’s new business. Let’s just say there was a lot of wine on offer. Con Ann and Canadia Boy came along, and many glasses of wine later, we realized we were hungry.
Luckily, we were in the presence of experts. Larry directed us to Spitalifields, where he told us to look for Canteen and his brother’s best mate, who was somehow involved with the business.
We wandered. We probably wandered a little longer than we had to because we were under the influence, but we made it. And we liked it immediately, upon welcome.
Part of me wants to make a Wagamama’s comparison–so I will. Dude, it’s the communal seating. I do like that. What I like more is that normally when I go to Spitalfields, there’s nowhere for me to eat because that dang St. John Bread and Wine place will never let me in. But now I’ve found my saviour.
Firstly, the service was AWESOME. Our server was super friendly throughout, and had lots of good recommendation. And when he forgot our sparkling H2O, he knew when to admit he had made a mistake and we were cool with that. Really, he was great.
We started with some potted duck, which wasn’t foie gras, really, but rather finely shreddy duck. It was served with something called piccalilli, which turned out to be marinated yellow and green peppers, I think. It was good.
For my main, I went for the ribeye, which was cooked perfectly. It came with shallots, which were a bit too shallot-y for me (who eats shallots whole?), but that’s me. Canadia and Con Ann both got pies–his beef, hers veggie. They were very, very happy with their meals.
Larry’s brother’s best mate came by at the end of the meal and we talked about how much Spitalfields had changed. Really, a few months ago, there was just the market and a construction site. Now there’s tons going on–including a beneFit shop, which offers some of my fave cosmetics. Really amazing how things change so quickly in this darn city!
Anyhow, we had a GREAT Wednesday eve, made all the more pleasant by the fact that our service was wonderful and our bill was only 75 quid.
Verdict: I like it. A lot.
