Sutton and Sons - Great British Fish & Chips (and Much More) Now in Islington

Name: Sutton and Sons Fish & Chips (Islington Branch)

Where: 356 Essex Road, London N1 3PD, http://www.suttonandsons.co.uk/

Cost: Sutton & Sons’ eat-in menu offers traditional British fish and chips fare as well as a selection of interesting small bites and a number of daily specials. The Fish & Chip section includes battered scampi at £7.95, cod, haddock and other fish at £9.95, or monkfish at £12.95, with hand-cut chips at £2.75. 

Small Bites features king prawns in tempura batter £4.50, Cromer crab on toast £5.95, ½ dozen Maldon oysters £8.50, and Moules Mariniere £4.50 among other offerings. If you fancy something other than battered fish, the daily specials may include whole sea bass with herb butter £12.50, lobster sub & chips £12.90 or grilled tuna or swordfish £9.50. Set price menus for lunch are also available at £6.50, as well as smaller servings for the kids menu at £5.75 for cod and chips. The take away menu is cheaper.

About: A North London institution, Sutton and Sons Fishmongers was founded by husband & wife duo, Danny and Hana Sutton in Stoke Newington 17 years ago. In 2010 they opened their first Fish & Chips restaurant just across the street from their shop with a second, smaller branch, largely for home and office deliveries, opened at Boxpark Shoreditch a few years later.

More recently, a new Islington restaurant opened on Essex Road. Decked out in smart black and white tiles, with Tolix style chairs and wooden tables, subdued lighting and discrete jazz/rock on the sound system, it's an enjoyable spot to eat in, or wait for your takeaway to be prepared. All their food, whether eaten on the premises or for takeaway, is freshly cooked to order.

The fish is responsibly sourced, and is supplied to all 3 restaurants from their own fishmongers in Stoke Newington, so it couldn’t be fresher. Hana – aka Mrs Sutton – makes a range of home-made pickles and desserts exclusively for the restaurants which are rapidly gaining a deserved North London following!

What We Ate: We started with a couple of the small bites selection - Cromer crab on toast (£5.95) was beautifully presented and delicious, with a generous portion of shredded fresh crab meat seasoned with finely chopped red chilli, red onion and parsley.

The restaurant's own-made smoked haddock and cod fish cakes (£4.95) were also very good - the fish and potato filling was deliciously creamy (more akin to a Japanese Korokke) seasoned with mustard seeds, in a crispy batter, and served with an excellent, fresh tartare sauce (made on the premises).

And of course battered fish had to be ordered – I opted though for the monkfish and chips (£12.95) as opposed to cod on this occasion.

With a super fine, crisp batter and meaty flesh, the monkish was outstandingly good, served alongside proper chips, thick cut and perfectly fried - crispy on the outside but soft and meltingly tender on the inside.

The lobster sub and fries (£12.90) served in a buttered brioche bun was filled to the brim with large pieces of meaty lobster and seasoned with a delicious Mary Rose sauce spiked with paprika – heaven!

We had a side serving of Mrs Sutton's homemade pickles too - quail eggs, balsamic shallots and red onion rings (£2.25). If you get to try these babies when you visit Sutton and Sons, you will never go back to the jarred, ready-made variety, I assure you! They were sweet, sour and beautifully delicate, with a great hit of clove and cinnamon in the onion rings. They worked a treat as a palate cleanser between courses and at the end of the meal.

What We Drank: The restaurant serves red, white and rose wines by the glass or bottle, including a Picpoul de Pinet for £19.50, and an Argentinian Malbec for £18.50.  The Renard Barnier Champagne is priced at a very reasonable £34.50. Beers come from Hackney Brewery, as well as Fullers others. On our visit, we opted for the Fullers London Pride (£4.25 for 500ml), and the Hackney Brewery American Pale Ale (£4.50 for 500ml).

Likes: Top quality, super fresh fish and seafood, perfectly cooked proper chips, a good selection of wines and craft beers at sensible prices. We loved the Cromer crab toasties, the lobster sub, the fantastic chips, the super delicate and crispy fish batter, the sweet pickles…. the list goes go….

Dislikes: What's not to like?

Verdict: In a sea of chain and other lamentable restaurant options on Upper Street, Sutton and Sons is a very welcome addition to the dining scene in Islington. From cod & chips to whole grilled seabass or lobster subs, they do it all, and they do it well. And it is great value for money too. Very highly recommended.   

Recipe: "Ankimo" - Sous-Vide Monkfish Liver with Grated Radish & Ponzu Dressing

Since finishing Cordon Bleu last autumn, I have been able to apply some of the French cooking techniques I learnt there to a number of different Japanese dishes at my supper club. Of all my recent experiments, the one I am happiest about is Ankimo - Japanese monkfish liver.

In Japan, monkfish liver, sometimes referred to as the Japanese foie gras, is very much a delicacy - it is usually cooked in a mixture of water and sake for about 10-15 minutes, rolled in a sushi mat to shape it and served with grated white radish (mooli) and ponzu dressing. It is soft, unctuous and very lightly fishy with a delightfully creamy texture. I love Ankimo and had it often when I was living in Tokyo.

Returning to the UK and after much research, I found that Fin & Flounder in London's trendy Broadway Market could supply me with monkfish liver. I had already eaten and purchased Fin & Flounder's fish on some occasions so I knew I was in good hands. Richard, the proprietor, was very helpful and despite having stopped selling monkfish liver at his shop a while back, he was happy to source and sell it to me whenever I placed an order. I cannot recommend Fin & Flounder highly enough - the level of service and the range and quality of fish Richard supplies are second to none.

Fish Counter at Fin & Flounder

So having found the monkfish liver, I was now ready to recreate this dish in London using my newly acquired Sous-Vide Supreme. Sous-Vide, pronounced "soo veed", is the French term for "under vacuum" and refers to a method of cooking in vacuum-sealed plastic pouches at low temperatures for long periods of time. I have written extensively about this cooking method in an earlier post including a recipe for Tamago Onsen - sous-vide duck eggs, served with silken tofu and ponzu dressing which you can read here.

We touched on sous-vide cooking at Cordon Bleu, but it wasn't until I acquired a Sous-Vide Supreme water bath that I managed to practice sous-vide(ing) at home. This piece of kit couldn't be simpler to use and it is reasonably priced at around £450 in John Lewis for the water bath and vacuum sealer. 

I found that sous-vide cooking gives the liver a creamier texture and greater concentration of flavour than simply boiling it in water. So, I can definitely say that the sous-vide technique produced better results for this dish than the more traditional or conventional cooking methods. The other practical advantage for using the sous-vide technique for this recipe is that the liver can be cooked and stored away well before serving as it is protected by the vacuum pouch.

I served Sous-Vide Monkfish Liver at my Japanese Supper Club as one of the starters during the summer of 2012 and had great feedback. This is a rather unusual but very rich and delicious dish and you don't need to go all the way to Japan to try it.

Sous-Vide Monkfish Liver with Grated Radish & Ponzu Dressing

Ingredients:

1kg monkfish liver
50ml sake
2 tbsp sea salt
1 medium-sized white radish (mooli)

Ponzu Dressing:
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp mirin
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp dashi powder
(Alternatively, ready-made ponzu dressing can be purchased from any Japanese food shop)

Optional:
Shichimi - Japanese Seven Spices
Black sesame seeds - for decoration
Radish or baby cress - for decoration

Equipment Required:
Sous-vide Supreme water bath
Sous-vide Vacuum Sealer
Vacuum pouches
Cling film

Method:

1. Remove the outer veins from the monkfish liver, rinse under running water, drain. Place the liver in a container, mix the sake and sea salt, cover and marinate overnight in the fridge.

2. Fill the Sous-Vide Supreme with water, set it to 65C. It will take about 10-15mins for the Sous-Vide Supreme to reach this temperature.

3. In the meantime, prepare the ballotines - remove the liver from sake and salt marinade, and pat it dry. Place two 60cm sheets of cling film one on top of the other over a clean work surface, pressing them down so that all air between the sheets is eliminated. Place the liver over the cling film (closer to you), and roll it tight (away from you) to make a cylindrical shape. Tie one end of the cling film cylinder, squeeze out any air from it through the other side, and roll it again to tighten it before tying the other end. The ballotine should be about one and half inches thick. Depending on the size of the livers, you should be able to make one or two ballotines.

4. Place the monkfish ballotines into a medium sized vacuum pouch. Using the Sous-Vide Supreme vacuum sealer (following the manufacturer's intructions), seal the pouch.

5. Place the sealed vacuum pouch in the Sous-Vide Supreme water bath when the temperature has reached 65C. Ensure that the pouch is completely submerged, sous-vide the monkfish liver for 3 hours and 15 minutes.

6. Prepare the ponzu dressing - mix all ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate until needed.

7. In a large bowl, add some ice cubes and water. Once the cooking time is up, remove the vacuumed pouch from the Sous-Vide Supreme water bath and refresh it in the iced water to bring the temperature of the liver down rapidly. Refrigerate it until needed, the monkfish is served at room temperature (remember to take them out of the fridge at least one hour before serving).

8. Just before serving, peel and grate the white radish, squeezing out the excess water. Set aside.

9. Remove the liver ballotines from the vacuum pouch, very carefully remove the cling film layers from the liver, and pat it dry. Cut in 1.5 cm thick slices.

10. To serve, place one slice of monkfish liver in a small bowl or plate, top it with grated radish, one or two teaspoons of ponzu dressing, and a sprinkle of shichimi pepper, black sesame seeds and baby cress if using. Serve.