REVIEW > GRAIN STORE

Last Monday, a friend and I sprinted through the rain to get to Grain Store; a vegetable-friendly restaurant located just behind Kings Cross Station in Granary Square. The place is relatively new and is headed by chef Bruno Loubet, who I had the brief pleasure of seeing at a Taste of London talk! The menu is full of unusual combinations and Mediterranean touches; miso aubergine, wasabi soil, mustard apricots to name a few. The atmosphere of the place is really relaxed and seems to attract everyone from local art students to family's and hungry workers; bare brick walls and an open plan table setting gives the place an unpretentious feel. So onto the food. I ordered the vanilla butter hake with steamed seaweed sushi, braised pak choi and black garlic. The hake was delicious; buttery and perfectly cooked, the touch of vanilla really complemented the fish. The pak choi was crunchy and fresh and the seaweed sushi really matched the rest of the dish. I was initially confused when I ordered the dish and the waiter explained that they painted black garlic onto the plate. I assumed it was a miscommunication but when the dish arrived I saw that in fact, yes, black garlicky brushstrokes had been painted onto the base of the plate. My friend ordered the veggie cauliflower cous cous, spelt salad with vegetable merguez, yoghurt and pistachio dressing. Again, when the waiter spoke of a 'sausage' we were confused, however it turns out that a vegetable merguez is a vegetable sausage- something I had never heard of before. The dish was colourful, exciting and unusual, decorated with rose petals and chunks of pistachio. Both dishes were in fact very pretty; it's safe to assume Grain Store takes pride in the appearance of it's dishes.

For dessert we both ordered the experimental coconut and kaffir lime flavoured green tapioca with sweet potatoes and banana wafers. Sadly I was a bit disappointed with this and I'm not sure that sweet potatoes are a well balanced accompaniment to green tapioca. The banana wafer was also a bit disappointing; I wish it had a bit more flavour! Overall Grain Store was a very different restaurant experience and unfortunately not all of the elements worked. If I were to go again I would probably pass on the dessert and order the yummy sounding spiced lentil cake for a starter instead. OH. We cheekily ordered a side pot of banana ketchup. Easily the best thing on the menu; spicy, mustardy, much better than normal ketchup I can tell you.