Weekly Review: Bistro Sablé
New Islington bistro instantly establishes itself as a classy, affordable destination.
Here’s all you really need to know about Bistro Sablé: My main course on Saturday night was truly the best Beef Bourguignon that I have ever tasted.
Here’s the second thing you need to know about Bistro Sablé: My wife and I had starters and mains on a Saturday night at an Islington hot spot for £50 per person, and it was delicious. Add a very nice 2018 Pavillon de Leoville Poyferre at £98 — at a wonderfully reasonable 3:2 mark-up — and our date night totalled £187. And with a cheaper wine, it could have been a lot less.
So the food is great, the prices reasonable, and the location excellent. Feel free to pause here and make a booking. I’ll wait.
Excellent. Now, let’s wind back.
Last week, I had the honour of meeting Fergus Henderson, St. John founder and long-time chef who basically changed everything about eating out in London.
Saturday night, I was fed to bursting by Chris Gillard, the former Executive Chef at St. John Group, one of Henderson’s many pupils.
The connection was unmistakeable.
That Beef Bourguignon that I mentioned was unconventional. Beef cheek was seared — I think on the wood fired grill on which more below — until the outer layer was nearly crispy. But the inside remained soft — the perfect texture where it just disintegrates when you press your fork into it. Here’s where the innovation came in: Normally, the meat is then braised in the Bourguignon sauce. In this case, I’m sure that it wasn’t. The sauce was made separately, from an absurdly deep stock, and the meat added just in time for service. The result was a much richer, glossier sauce and meat with big, sturdy flavour rather than the insipid, overcooked stuff you often get.
Meanwhile, my wife chose Bavette steak with frites. Like seemingly every new restaurant these days, Bistro Sablé has its own facility for air drying and ageing beef, which, in this case, was in view of our table. And I watched Chef Chris fetch my wife’s steak from the cabinet before it went on the fire.
Cooking is done over a snazzy custom-built wood fire grill from the Clay Ovens Company, now an apparent requirement if you want your restaurant to be cool. So the Bavette was served thicker than you would typically find, but the aggressive sear added lovely flavour, and the interior was perfect, soft, and pink.
Our starters were oysters from Mersea Island in Essex and pork & duck rillettes, which were particularly well made, and served simply with a bit of toast, Dijon mustard, and cornichons.
The seeming simplicity backed by layers of cleverness was very much reminiscent of St. John. Certainly, everything was in a style that Fergus would recognise.
The wine list was developed and sourced by Alex Corvez, previously of Hide and Mere, who knows his way around French wine. It was a great list with options across price points and drawn from all over France, though slightly thin on Burgundian options.
Bistro Sablé is a project of the same folks who own the Pig & Butcher just up the hill on Liverpool Road. And they have done a great job converting the old Smokehouse restaurant into a pretty authentic French bistro vibe. White table cloths and candles were great for our date night. But there are also clever touches, like smart tables for 6 built into bay windows and a semi-private party space in the back next to the kitchen. In short, it’s definitely a place you could take a colleague or client without it feeling awkward.
If there was one flaw, it was that everything was a bit slow. But we visited on a busy Saturday before Christmas, and there were a bunch of big groups in the restaurant, which has been open for only about three weeks. So I will happily dismiss that tiny niggle. And the front of house team that looked after us could not have been more friendly or on top of things.
With all of this great food and excellent wine, we wound up quite full, and, with our friends at Udderlicious just around the corner, we decided to skip dessert and grab a scoop of ice cream before heading home.
But I definitely want to return to Bistro Sablé as soon as I can. Mostly because I stupidly overlooked the cheese soufflé. But our visit was an absolute delight, and I think you will enjoy it as well.
When you factor in the reasonable prices, it’s positively a must-book place.
Quick hit: Delightful bistro vibe and excellent French cooking at reasonable prices from a St. John’s alum.
Details: Booking advised. Islington. ££.
Restaurant website. More on Instagram.
Find it on Google Maps. 63-69 Canonbury Rd, N1 2DG.
Thanks for reading this week’s review. What’s your go-to place in Islington? Tell me in the Comments. And please subscribe if you haven’t already.
glad you had a lovely evening!
Ah, this one's right down the road from me, I've been thinking of trying it since I read David Ellis' review. Sounds like I'll definitely have to find the time!