the salt & pepper diaries

So I’ve been hearing a few rumours for a while now about a supposedly great Japanese restaurant that’s opened in Kentish Town. The first was from a chef who said he’d heard other chef friends had been going and rated it highly. The point of his comment was that if chefs go, it must be good. A couple of other remarks were from other friends who’d heard similar things, but had no idea where it was. I finally asked my stepbrother, a recently qualified sushi chef, but he couldn’t offer any further clues.

So it was a pleasant surprise to walk home last week and stumble right onto it, not five minutes from my house. I blame the iPod and mobile for my ‘zoned’ state whilst walking back and forth to work, as I’ve been traipsing past this now legendary spot for a few weeks and it hasn’t even registered.

This isn’t to say it’s so plain it may as well be invisible, not great for a new restaurant starting out, especially one on the wrong end of Kentish Town High street – can there be a wrong end of Kentish Town? It’s actually well set-up, (very) bijou in size and style and now I know where it is, very clearly visible to all.

Satuma is a Japanese restaurant with a Korean twist, influenced heavily by the Korean manager, Moon-Sang Park. The size of the place is part of the charm – all the food is freshly prepared just feet away from you and Mr.Park is able to provide a full run-down of anything that may seem confusing.

Lunches are very good with a selection of Bento boxes at incredibly good prices; Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box (£6.50), Salmon (£7.00) and the Satuma Bento Box (£8.50).

The sushi – a-la-carte Nigiri and Sashimi are superb - with fish freshly supplied by the same guys who supply the Japan Centre. We also had the Vegetable Gyoza dumplings as a starter along with lightly cooked Tempura and Fried Tofu. To follow, Beef Teriyaki with fresh vegetables and Teriyaki sauce. Very good all round and all very good prices – no Nobu charges here.

I don’t understand enough about good sushi, but now have the perfect excuse with this on the doorstep to learn more and as they do take-away, it will make a change from the pizzas.

This is highly recommended. Head to Kentish Town, turn right out of the tube and you’ll be there and seated in two minutes – that is if they can squeeze you in. One tip, be careful not to confuse this with the Satsuma Japanese restaurant on Wardour Street.

Satuma
8 Fortess Rd
Kentish Town
NW5 2ES
020 7485 7078

The Shoreditch House gang have begun works on their new hotel, due for launch this Christmas. The new 10,000 sq ft Hotel will be an addition to the Club and makes use of the derelict White Swan pub on the corner of Ebor Street and Bethnal Green Road.

It’s going to be a large-scale job judging by work that started last week, but will add substantially to the ever changing Redchurch Street scene. The Boundary is in full swing now and there have even been rumours of Ian Schrager sniffing around.

The Olympics are going to be well serviced this side of town!

So Terrence Conran’s new place has opened to a high level of acclaim, praise and general back-slapping. Time Out have already placed it in their Top 50 list, it had a rave 4-star review from Guy Dimond in the same mag a couple of weeks ago and there is generally a buzz of favourable commentary across the foodie sites and blogs. And all well deserved.

photo | everydaylifestyle

This is a Conran and Partners project, as opposed to D&D London, the management team that took over the reins for the original Conran kitchen killers – Quaglinos, Blue Print Café, Orrery etc. and the new team (Terrence and wife, Vicki) have put together what is collectively known as the Boundary Project. An ambitious menu made up of three courses; for starters, The Albion ‘caff’ (their description), main course is The Boundary restaurant and the desert, the Boundary Hotel, with every room handed over to a different designer for its differentiating story. To top it all, the hotel also boasts a rooftop bar with 48-seat grill and gardens. All this, while we face somewhat of an economic hiccup – do you think anyone’s told our Tel?

We should be glad they haven’t told him, because it’s pretty special and if everything follows the lead of The Albion, it’s worth a visit.

photo | everydaylifestyle

The Albion offers straight, British cooking. It’s described as the Caff and no meals are over a tenner. The menu’s a little odd at first and feels very pick n’ mix, but a little thinking and you soon find a combination that works. Great fry-ups and bacon sarnies to start the day and the lunches include fish and chips, bowls of mushy peas, whitebait, crackling, chips cooked in beef dripping, welsh rarebit, pies and stews. Round it all off with crumbles, egg custard and bread and butter pudding. A definite recommendation is the crackling.

There also seems to be a sense of humour that I’m still not sure about – such as old tractor seats for the stools and tea cosy’s used on traditional tea pots. Quirky touches, but a little try hard. However, by far the best gag is the small deli at the entrance of the restaurant. £2.95 for a small bottle of Heinz ketchup when it’s a third of the price in the Tesco’s opposite. Well, at least it keeps and it makes a good window display.

Albion
2-4 Boundary St
E2 7JE
020 7 729 1051

Feeling a little sheepish posting this - the first post since September 2008 and it’s a cheap sign-post to someone else’s work - Time Out’s.

However, this is the Time Out London Top 50 - an annual feature which should set you up for the year.

The tip is to book ahead and then forget about the reservations. When they come around, (a) it’s a nice surprise and (b) you have a table at a month-long waiting list restaurant. Reserve for four to get max benefit.

The list is split as follows:

Indian
Oriental
Italian
Cheap eats
British
Vegetarian
Gastropubs
Best service
Best to impress
Best for grazing

Enjoy!

Giles Coren is causing a bit of a stir.

First of all he takes some stick from a few regarding his views on the great British Fry-Up and a bogus MySpace profile.

We now find him slogging it out with the editorial team at The Times. This is well worth the read and I really want to see the response he requests from Owen, Amanda or Ben. Keep an eye on the comments for this one.