40 Maltby Street
Not a restaurant review
I never intended for this to be a place where I would write restaurant reviews. I don't consider myself to be someone who writes such things. I'm increasingly skeptical of restaurant reviews, anyway. We all have our own tastes and preferences and foibles when it comes to deciding where we like to eat. It's hard to objectively say that somewhere is good, somewhere else isn't. I've lost count of the number of times I've been to places that people have raved about and that I've thought are shit.
But I wanted to write a little note to tell that you 40 Maltby Street is very good, and that if you ever find yourself in London, you should go. To my mind, it is a near perfect place to eat. Certainly, it's one of the best places we've been here, IMHO.
I will list the reasons why I liked it so much, and you can determine from this list whether you might enjoy it too.
The restaurant/wine bar is located in an old railway arch. It is beautiful.
You can sit at the bar or sit at large tables in the centre of the room or sit outside. I always like to sit at the bar.
They don't take reservations. Therefore, you don't have to plan to go 7 weeks in advance.
As soon as you are seated, you are presented with a large jug of water. I drink a lot of water. This works well for me.
There are two blackboard menus - one lists food, the other the wines by the glass. Whoever chalks up the blackboards has very nice handwriting.
The staff are friendly. They are attentive. They are kind. But they're not in your face.
Once you've ordered your drinks and food, you'll be presented with a complimentary plate of chewy rounds of baguette and a little pat of salted, room temperature butter. Where else in this town do you get free bread?
The bread to butter ratio is spot on.
The menu is a mix of smaller plates and larger plates - to either eat on your own or share. The small plates are more substantial than a plate of salami and a plate of cheese. They are also about the same price as what one pays for a plate of salami and a plate of cheese in many other wine bars.
The kitchen is tiny. You see the chefs work while you sip on your wine. Small kitchens produce more interesting food, I think.
The chicken, bacon and hazelnut terrine. The toasty, poppy hazelnuts are quite something.
That the plates of food you've ordered are perfectly staggered. This is not a game of Eat Everything All At Once.
The asparagus fritters with mushroom ketchup. Spears of new season asparagus in a shatteringly crisp batter, with a little espresso glass of sauce for dipping them into. What fun.
That, from the reading I've done, there is always a fritter of sorts, made using an in season vegetable, on the menu that changes weekly.
The cauliflower and cheddar tart with piccalilli and watercress. Perfect little tarts. A delicious chunky piccalilli. I only wish we'd thought to order one each.
That sometimes there is an omelette on the menu. They have listened to Elizabeth David. There is nothing better than an omelette and a glass of wine.
The omelette. Filled with nettles and finished with a smattering of Cora Lynn. This was a perfectly cooked omelette. Again, I only wish we'd ordered two.
That you're asked if you want to order a second glass of wine. We didn't, but at least someone cared to ask.
Coffee ice with whipped cream for dessert. Small glasses of the stuff. Truly, sensationally delicious.
In relation to the above, the clear steer from the woman who was serving us that, yes, we did need one each.
And also in relation to the above, the sheer delight that the woman serving us got from the sheer delight on Phil's face when he saw his coffee ice being walked towards him.
That all of this cost us less than £100, until we decided to add on a bottle of wine to take away.
That service was not added to the bill. That service was, genuinely, discretionary. And as such, of course I chose to tip handsomely. Not just because of my views on these things, but because it was deserved.
The woman sitting next to us, on her own, reading a book, eating two plates of nice food and drinking a glass of wine. That this place is good for that. I'll be doing that myself.
That I can walk there from my house in 58 minutes, winding my way through the streets of the City of London and across London Bridge as I go.
There you have it. 25 reasons why I think 40 Maltby Street is a good place to go to. Maybe it will sound good to you, too.
