CHEF’S TABLE

Sustainable fin-to-tail seafood cooking from London’s Lyon’s

Former Le Gavroche and Fat Duck chef Talia Prince is in charge in the kitchen at Crouch End’s newest opening, while front of house is in equally expert hands courtesy of Anthony Lyon, who’s spent the past 20 years working at the likes of The Wolseley and Hix. The 62-cover space keeps thing unfussy yet classily comfortable, with muted green banquettes, wooden floors and a white marble bar, while pretty traces of the room’s original cream and green Victorian tiling can be spotted on the walls.

Seafood fans will love the kitchen’s offbeat and creative approach to ingredients. Oysters – sourced from Wright Brothers – come with garnishes designed to complement each variety: on our visit, Carlingfords are delicately matched with a melon and cucumber salsa. Toasted, treacly rye bread comes piled with fat, sweet, pickled mussels and a delicate curry-tinged sauce; while caesar salad gets a successful maritime boost thanks to smoked sardines.

Using every part of the fish is encouraged here and this ethos is expressed fully in stone bass collars marinated in miso then slow-cooked to wobbling, almost gelatinous tenderness and served with seaweed butter – fingers may have been used to impatiently pry away the soft, flaking meat from the bones. Another deliciously messy and hands-on dish comes in the form of giant shell-on prawns swimming in an umami-bomb smoked tomato and confit garlic sauce – a must order. Veggie and side dishes also impress. Bronzed, crispy bricks of compressed potato layers come with a super-savoury ‘chip shop curry sauce’, while whole grilled Hispi cabbage is sumptuously dressed with beef fat and capers.

The wine list – courtesy of award-winning sommelier Kelvin McCabe, wine buyer for the Adam Handling group – focusses on sustainable, organic and low-intervention bottles, and there’s also a pithy cocktail list – a super-dry, briny martini made with seaweed-infused Irish An Dúlamán gin and manzanilla sherry is the perfect start to a seafood feast. lyons-restaurant.com