Review: Bonnie Gull, Exmouth Market

Exmouth Market is one of the few streets in London where it’s nigh on impossible to make a bad eating choice. Morito is a superior tapas bar, Medcalf serves reliably hip modern British, Blackfoot dishes up some of the capital’s finest pork, and Caravan is packed, if not as dazzling as it’s big King’s Cross sibling. Even better, tired old Strada has recently morphed into cute Café Pistou. Will Caffe Nero be the next chain to buckle?

Nine months ago a newcomer moved into the outlet previously occupied by the short-lived Potato Merchant, and before that, an underperforming French restaurant. It’s a notoriously tricky spot.

And yet Bonnie Gull, the brainchild of Alex Hunter and Danny Clancy, should surely succeed: inspired by the “simple, unassuming restaurants of British coastal towns”, and starting out as a Hackney pop-up, it’s becoming a micro chain in its own right (the other branch is in Fitzrovia).

Opening on Exmouth last summer, the owners invited us down as they’d recently decided to relaunch with an emphasis on sharing plates, pre-theatre options (Sadler’s Wells is round the corner) and stash of new cocktails. The feeling is that they probably hadn’t quite found their feet in such a crowded street of excellence.

Still, the interior is bright and cheerful on a persistently cold winter’s day. We liked the retro gymnasium floor, the witty seaside photographs (a derelict promenade, hoodies, a sign saying We Sell Fags), and an ‘oyster table’ fashioned from an old barrel, a little like an authentic Spanish tapas bar. There’s plenty of on-trend counter seating, and an original vintage jukebox playing that 1970s coastal staple, northern soul.

The new menu sees dishes grouped in the categories ‘sea’, ‘shore’ and ‘land’. A ‘Smash your own’ 1Kg Dorset Crab with flame-grilled brown meat looked pretty tempting, as did the simple beer battered North Sea haddock.

We began by trying two smoky aperitifs: Kamm’s Rye & Dry blended the fashionable British spirit with aromatic Rittenhouse 100 and sweet vermouth, packing a powerful midday punch (we were mighty glad it was a Friday). Meanwhile, a Rum Boulevardier mixed El Dorado with bitters, Campari and orange, a rum kind of take on the negroni. And both drinks matched a small amuse bouche of smoked mackerel pâté, with salty anchoiade, on light sourdough.

Six plates are about enough to graze on some interesting corners of the menu, and they varied from decent to excellent, with no duds. Most average, however, was salt and pepper squid, pimped up by hot jalapeno mayonnaise, an anonymous take on a dish that rarely shines. Much better was the scallop ceviche made using the medium-sized Manx queens, whose light sweetness was admirably countered by punchy grapefruit and shallot.

A vibrant sea bass dish dazzled the eyes more than the tongue: and yet its bright green broccoli puree, romanesco and slices of citrus fruit offered a pleasant juxtaposition of textures, completed by the crunchy brassica.

We accompanied the ‘shore’ and ‘sea’ choices with one offering from ‘land’: roasted celeriac, its accompanying hazelnuts, crispy capers and beurre noisette adding a salty nuttiness to the ugly but flavoursome winter vegetable.

Best of all? Perhaps surprisingly for a seafood bar, the steak tartare, presented beautifully with each ingredient separate: gherkin, capers, red onion, ketchup – and, of course, a wobbling creamy yolk perched on top. A delight, in fact, to scoop up with the sourdough Melba toast.

If, after all that, you’ve still room, the desserts are fairly tempting: a dark chocolate brownie – rich, moist and dense – with salted caramel cream performed a swift disappearing act, aided by a sharp espresso.

So next time you’re in Exmouth Market, don’t bother queuing at those crazily over-subscribed no-bookings places. Instead, why not sit at one of the window counter stools here, schlurping oysters and watching the ebb and flow of the street’s always colourful parade?