Ottolenghi, Islington, London

Address: 287 Upper Street, London N1 2TZ
Website: http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/locations/

Summary: Worth the wait delicious and healthy

We went to Ottolenghi with brunch intentions, but after seeing the spread they have for lunch, we changed our mind quite fast. As typical to all the "in" locations in London, we waited around an hour to be seated. Our wait doubly painful as we kept staring to their savoury and sweet spreads!

The only good thing about the wait was that we exactly knew what we wanted, after having evaluated all the dishes to their finest detail. Hence, the ordering and getting served went quite swiftly afterwards.

Here is what we had:

One of our friends stayed true to the original plan and ordered a breakfast menu item.

Welsh rarebit on sourdough £7.70

Served with a poached egg and wilted chard with lemon

I think this is worth writing more about, as the name is curious.
According to Wikipedia: Welsh rarebit or Welsh rabbit is a dish made with a savoury sauce of melted cheese and various other ingredients and served hot, after being poured over slices (or other pieces) of toasted bread.
There are various sorts of legends and myths, so I do not know which one to believe. Here is one, again from Wikipedia:
A legend mentioned in Betty Crocker's Cookbook claims that Welsh peasants were not allowed to eat rabbits caught in hunts on the estates of the nobility, so they used melted cheese as a substitute.

This is the version my friend had, with an egg and salad on the side. 

 

By the way, if I ever want to make it at home, this recipe looks promising.

For the others, who opted for lunch, lunch selections are nicely configurable in Ottolenghi.

Salad selection

Small selection of three salads £11.50

Normal selection of four salads £14.00

Main course and salads

Small two salads with main £14.20

Normal three salads with main £16.70

While the guys chose the normal three salads with main,
I got small two salads with main, which was more than enough as you can see. My plate had:

•  Roasted aubergine with black garlic yoghurt, fried chilli, caramelised hazelnuts and herbs
•  Mixed peppers and brown bulgar tabbouleh with mixed nuts, red onion and pomegranate seeds
• Free range chicken with rosemary, chilli, chilli and garlic

The lunch went fast. And, after being tormented by the desserts displayed in their window, of course, we had to order some. We picked: Both the victorian sponge, and the cream filled chocolate cake (which I have no idea how it is called) were beautifully done.

Ottolenghi is definitely worth visiting many times.  I also plan to bring some of that goodness to home by trying their recipes at: http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes