Angelina - Exquisite Italian-Japanese Cooking in East London

Name: Angelina

Where: 56 Dalston Lane, London E8 3AH, http://www.angelina.london/

Cost: £39 for 5-course tasting menu with an optional £35 Italian wine pairing, or £9 for the dish of the day with an optional £3 for a beer or glass of wine.

About: Few London restaurants have excited me as much as Italian-Japanese @Angelina.dalston - and glad to report that our experience there was nothing short of outstanding.

Owner and General Manager Joshua Owens-Baigler @joshuabaigler, a Japanophile at heart who lived in Umbria, trained at the River Café and cut his teeth with the Bistroteque Group,  Hix, and Bocca di Lupo. And this is where he met Roman Head Chef, Daniele Ceforo (former Café Murano and Enoteca Turi), now heading the kitchen at Angelina.

Joshua’s knowledge of Italian and Japanese ingredients is encyclopaedic, but better still is how he brings these two cuisines so beautifully together, nothing is forced or out of place, and every ingredient, be it moromi miso, extra virgin olive oil or fatty tuna, matters and complements his harmonious Italian-Japanese creations.

Angelina, a bright 40-cover restaurant, was designed by Jason's mother, an award winning interior designer and founder of Anna Owens Designs. Angelina is heavily inspired by Japanese minimalism and monochromatic aesthetic combined with high-quality Italian materials including a gorgeous Italian marble bar overlooking the open kitchen. 

We also loved the use of gorgeous green foliage scattered around the restaurant which brought freshness and warmth to the elegant decor.

What We Ate: We went for their 5-course tasting menu, a real steal at £39pp, opting for an additional cheese and miso course (£10 supplement).

The meal kicked off with a selection of 7 primi (small dishes), a mix of ‘Fritto Misto’ and ‘Crudo’ raw fish to share:

1. Deep-fried, Panko coated Taleggio cheese with pancetta and pickled cucumber served with tonkatsu sauce (made in-house):

2. Red snapper Carpaccio with truffle soy and furikaki seasoning:

3. Japanese Shishito peppers (akin to Padron Peppers) served ‘kushiage’ style (though no skewers), coated in Panko and deep fried - an Izakaya staple:

4. Vitelo Tonnato - a classic from Piedmont - thin slices of cooked veal in a rich tuna mayo - though at @angelina.dalston a katsuoboshi mayo (air dried bonito flakes used to make dashi stock) was used instead with great results:

5. Light as feather Cime di Rapa tempura:

6. Exquisite fatty toro (tuna belly sashimi) with moromi miso & extra virgin olive oil and crispy pancetta:

7. Sliced sourdough bread - top image in What We Ate section.

And then onto the pasta course - raviolo filled with soy marinated egg yolk, and served with oyster mushroom, baby yucca, nasturtium leaves and shavings of Perigord truffle in a light dashi of kombu and dried porcini - exquisite!

Secondo (main) was a delectable dish of red mullet and burnt soy butter served with Tema artichoke.

Cheese and miso platter included wakame (Japanese seaweed), aged tofu in moromi miso, and robiola piemonte cheese, Gorgonzola naturale, tastuno al Barolo, served with Sardinian Carasau bread (paper thin and crispy), and a glass of sweet Passito wine (Sagrentino Montefalco).

Dolci (dessert) of black sesame Castella cake, chocolate langues de chat, and an ultra-refreshing blood orange sorbet ended our meal in a high note.

If you don’t fancy a full-blown 5-course meal, the restaurant offers a daily changing plate (katsu curry on the day we were there) for £9, with the option of adding a glass of wine or beer for £3.

What We Drank: A fantastic Italian wine pairing for the 5-course tasting menu is available for £35. Though as we were there at lunchtime, we decided to play safe and had a glass of Zabibbo, Curatolo Arini 2018 from Sicily, a luscious, muscat-like wine with tropical fruit.

Likes: the toro with moromi miso and extra virgin olive oil was sensational, as was the red snapper carpaccio with truffle soy and furikake, and the deep fried taleggio! We loved the selection of Piemontese cheeses and aged tofu, I would recommend it for the £10 supplement. The optional £35 wine pairing is excellent value and features some unusual, niche Italian wines. We loved the Sicilian Zabbido wine (and grape), it was our first time trying it (similar to a Moscatel).

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: One of my favourite restaurants in London right now - there is so much to love about Angelina - harmonious, creative Italian-Japanese cooking with great quality ingredients, in a very beautiful setting and at £39, their 5-course tasting menu is also a real steal. I cannot wait to return! Very highly recommended.

London Supper Club Review – “Hidden Dining” @ Shacklewell Nights

Introducing a new concept in the London underground food scene, Shacklewell Nights is not exactly a supper club nor is it a pop up restaurant. “Hidden Dining” is the new word on the street and I cannot think of a better place for such a novel idea than Shacklewell Nights.

Unlike a "one-off" pop-up restaurant or a more regular supper club, Shacklewell Nights hosts dinners for two nights every two months at an East End venue which is not the hosts’ home. This is a new collaboration between friends Claire Roberson and Jonathan Woolway.

The Location

Based in a former clothing factory in the heart of Dalston, E8, the venue is still owned by a popular and rather upmarket fashion label, and is used mainly for photo shoots and other fashion events.

The location is stunning, full of natural light and with a laid-back, informal feel about it. The premises are quite spacious allowing Claire and Jonathan to seat up to 65 people at a time.

The Food

Food at Shacklewell Nights is quintessentially British and seasonal. Ingredients are sourced locally and are presented in a skilled, unfussy way.

To kick off proceedings we were served a delicious salad of "Brown Shrimp, Potato and Samphire". The tiny brown shrimps worked well with the tart capers, the soft waxy potatoes and the salty samphire which tasted of the sea. The combination of flavours and textures was well thought out, and the presentation was beautiful.

The second course was "Braised Duck Leg with White Beans and Tarragon Aioli" - the meat was perfectly cooked, served on a bed of white beans and bacon, braised in fino sherry, with sage and watercress. I loved the understated sophistication of this dish and the delicious combination of tarragon and duck.

As a palate cleanser, we had a refreshing "Raspberry Sorbet" served with a vodka shot from Sacred Micro Distillery in Highgate.

For dessert, we were served a surprisingly creamy but light "Blackberry Fool". This was accompanied by their own home made shortbread which was buttery and deliciously crumbly.

The People

Claire Roberson and Jonathan Woolway have both had many years experience working in restaurants across the UK. After university, Claire cooked at a number of restaurants and bars for seven years before coming to London and starting a career in Architecture and Design.

Claire's passion for cooking and sharing good food with friends motivated her to start her own supper club in 2009 "Green Onions" in her former flat in Hackney. Green Onions Supper Club was a great success until Claire's cooking partner decided to move abroad and prompt a new partnership and the opening of Shacklewell Nights.

Jonathan is from Swansea and has also worked in various restaurants in Wales and London. He currently works at one of the top restaurants in the country specialising in British cuisine, also listed as one of S. Pellegrino's 50 Best Restaurants in the World in 2010.


(Picture Courtesy of Debbie of Vintage Macaroon)

Shacklewell Nights attracts a mostly young, professional crowd. There was a very lively, party atmosphere, with diners mingling and talking to one another. On the evening I visited, I was accompanied by Dr G and Debbie of Vintage Macaroon, and also had the pleasure of meeting and sharing the table with celebrity chef Gizzie Erskine (gorgeous and incredibly friendly), her husband Martin, and Donald, a former sommelier who kindly shared his wines with us.

The Drinks

Shacklewell Nights is BYO and no corkage is levied. On the evening I visited, Casa Leal supplied the aperitif (expertly chosen by The Wine Sleuth), a deliciously fresh and light 09 Vinho Verde from Arca Nova.

Other Stuff

To find out more and to book, visit their website here. The new Hidden Dining dates at Shacklewell Nights are 19th and 20th November 2010.

Cost: minimum donation of £35 per person.

Likes: fantastic seasonal British food to rival many top restaurants in town, excellent value, and stunning location.

Dislikes: none.

Verdict: one of the best nights out I have had in a long time, with the most delicious, seasonal British food cooked with much skill and elegance. I cannot wait to return. Very highly recommended.

Many thanks to the professional photographer Betty Bhandari who kindly allowed me to use her images in this post. For more information about Betty's photography, visit her website here.