The Northcote E11 – pizza review
First up, just take a look at the late afternoon rays streaming through the leaded windows at The Northcote last Saturday afternoon. A very serene moment – although just half an hour earlier, the pub had been mobbed before the Leyton Orient match.
It shows just how versatile this imposing Victorian corner landmark – nestled on the corner of Francis and Grove Green Roads – really is, with boss lady Tuesday Roberts one of the area’s most respected operators (you can read my very first Leytonstoner interview with her, back in 2015, here).
And while the pub, which has long served a strong craft beer game, is something close to the perfect neighbourhood boozer, I’m especially a fan of Sunday’s legendary drag nights, even if it means an – ahem – jaded start to the week on Monday.
But admittedly it had been a while since I’d eaten there, and so last weekend we popped by for some wood-fired pizza. Well-priced at around £9.50-£13, the Siciliana (left) was the highlight – less oozy than the meaty Diavola (right) but packed with umami flavours from a holy trinity of anchovies, pecorino and capers. And WFH-ers, result: It’s two-for one on Friday lunchtimes. @northcotee11
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Meanwhile in Forest Gate: Sho Foo Doh
If you’ve been living here a few years, you’ll remember Sho Foo Doh, or chef Fumio Tanga, whose cooking is inspired by the “casual izakaya bars and drinking food culture of Japan.” He popped up, most memorably at Filly Brook (reviewed here), just after Covid and, after a year, relocated to Hackney Wick’s waterside venue All My Friends in 2022.
For the last few months, he’s been over at Pretty Decent, arguably the finest taproom in Forest Gate. It’s certainly the spot I swing by more than the others, often with boyfriend in tow, although, last weekend, we started at newish arrival Joyau for a pre-prandial pet nat (try saying that after a few wines).
Meanwhile over at Pretty Decent, Fumio still serves what he calls Japanese “(un)classics”, which means everything from vegan gyoza to okonomiyaki, a savoury pancake streetfood dish particularly popular in Hiroshima where Fumio is from.
We were pleased the tuna tostadas were still on the menu, piled with glistening red-raw gochujang tuna and avocado, while padron peppers came out a little pale, so were dispatched back to the kitchen to be appropriately scorched. As well as piping hot gyoza, another highlight were the fish finger sandos, their just opaque flesh, smeared with curry sauce, utterly delicious.
And there’s something about that railway arch interior, pictured above, decked out with lanterns and noren (the traditional Japanese fabric dividers) that’s quite magical, especially now the rainy season is here. @shofoodoh
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The Collab launch Sunday lunch
Remember when Paul Human was slinging patties at the Heathcote & Star? If memory serves me correctly, he was the pub’s first ever chef when it reopened its doors in 2017. Now of course, the esteemed Krapow is there.
Paul Human went on to combine forces with Signature Brew for Hoe Street’s The Collab, a space just near the cinema that has always felt a little soulless, somehow. But the other Sunday we just happened to be first through the door to try the new Sunday roasts. Why? Purely because the bf and I nabbed a 50% off food deal through the First Table app.
It was a long while since we’d eaten at the Collab and the interior now feels more stylish, with open kitchen and smartly-dressed serving staff, attentive and super-friendly.
A fridge-cold prawn cocktail was fantastically retro yet addictively moreish – the perfect starter – especially with hunks of Today bread from over the road, not to mention a Bloody Mary with its eye-watering kick.
And of the two roasts, the beef short rib – sourced from none other than NW3’s swanky Hampstead Butcher – excelled in flavour and size, with homemade horseradish and a whopper of a Yorkshire. The five-hour cooked-in-wine lamb shoulder was plenty flavourful, but just a little too fatty: however, a mint salsa verde was cracking, as were (on both plates) the roasties, piquant piles of red cabbage, and al dente carrots and beans.
Cost-wise, the roasts are £16-22, about typical these days. Combine lunch there with a post-prandial stroll in Lloyd Park, as we did, and a mooch round the free William Morris Gallery. @thecollablondon
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