Toklas is a restaurant from the founders of Frieze (art show, magazine, synonym for coolness), and is best described as a hangout for artistic types who have looked around a gallery and now want to eat asparagus. The Mediterranean dishes will appeal to those with a penchant for Ottolenghi, but not all dishes are hits. Still, there’s a charming plant-strewn terrace off the Strand, a lively dining room full of people who know Wolfgang Tillmans from Ragna Bley, and an excellent carrot dish that will make you seriously consider a waitlist for an allotment 15 miles from your house.
photo credit: Toklas
photo credit: Toklas
Take your most tasteful friends to Toklas, the ones with an Ebay alert for Scandinavian chairs. Evening is best, when the dining room is in full swing, leather mules rap across parquet floors (reclaimed, naturally), and frilly, oversized collars are out in full force.
The Mediterranean dishes range from fine to very nice. Olive oil only comes in one amount—Big Ass Pour. The aftermath of a plate of tonnarelli with Portland crab is an orange shallow pool, a starter of anchovies swim in the stuff, and a scallop crudo is overwhelmed by it. Emotional attachment to oil aside, there are light, fresh dishes that work well. Like casconcelli bursting with emerald, sweet spinach, toasty grilled carrots sprinkled with pistachios, and a juicy, pink lamb leg.
Food RundownBoquerones
It’s possible for anchovies to look sexy. We know this because these ones—packed in oil, tangy with vinegar, scattered with parsely—are seductive little slips of things. Yes, there’s a lot of oil, but at least here you can mop it up with bread.
photo credit: Sinéad Cranna
Slow Grilled Carrots With Labneh, Pistachio And Sumac
This is what side dishes at our dinner parties are meant to turn out like. The carrots have some nice charred bits, they’re sweet, and they’re all the better for lying on a silky, creamy labneh bed.
photo credit: Sinéad Cranna
Pork Chop With Escarole, Raisins And Capers
The pork is dry and overcooked, but the slightly bitter escarole, which is cooked down until it’s soft and comforting, is tasty.
photo credit: Sinéad Cranna
Casconcelli With Spinach, Westcombe Ricotta And Peas
We can only imagine that stuffed supermarket pasta would shrivel in shame upon seeing this dish. Each little parcel of casconcelli is, to quote Mary Berry, cram jam full. The spinach is vibrant green and sweet, and there’s a nice creaminess and tang to the ricotta. Does the pasta push the definition of al dente in places? Perhaps. But it’s treading on the right side of the line.
photo credit: Sinéad Cranna
Grilled Lamb Leg With Artichokes, Lentils And Mint
This dish looks like the page of a cookery book we’ve folded over in the corner, come to life. And happily it tastes just as good. The lamb is tender and the lentils are hearty and tomatoey.
photo credit: Emily Hai
Chocolate Tart With Amarena Cherries And Crème Fraîche
A scarcity mentality has been applied to the cherries and the chocolate is overset and tough to spoon through. We wouldn’t order it again.
photo credit: Sinéad Cranna
Tarte Tatin (To Share)
Like an art teacher staring down at our wonky self-portrait, we’d like to declare that this dessert has “so much potential”. But it’s caught in places which made some mouthfuls bitter and unpleasant.
photo credit: Emily Hai