Pro Vs Punter Magpie, London

Does a regular diner reach the same conclusion about a restaurant as a food pro, who may get special treatment if recognised?* Hilary Armstrong and Olive reader Serena Karp compare notes on this opening with a quirky approach to service.

Magpie

After gaining a Michelin star at their Hackney restaurant, Pidgin, restaurateurs James Ramsden and Sam Herlihy have moved into the centre of town with modern British cuisine served from a trolley, dim sum style. 

The trolley weaves its way around the de rigueur room with its industrial features and modern furnishings. Sit on a velvet triangular stool at the concrete bar, or by the huge landscape that scales the entire back wall next to the small open kitchen. 

Choose a cocktail from the ‘trolley’, or peruse the list of James’s carefully sourced wines, many of which come on tap. Small plates include mackerel crudo, Vietnamese terrine and celeriac with watermelon barbecue sauce. For dessert, try chocolate, sorrel gelato and chartreuse cheesecake or yogurt panna cotta with blow-torched peach and celery sorbet. magpie-london.com

Our pro says…

“We’re recalibrating the system,” explains the reservationist, clear as mud, when we rock up for a ‘walk-in’ (they don’t take dinner reservations for two), only to find Magpie fully booked. A table is secured for an hour later, after which service from the crew of big-hearted hipsters progresses pretty smoothly. Wine service gets forgotten, however, which is a pity as Magpie’s wine edit, like its sibling Pidgin’s, is excellent. *I wasn’t recognised. 

“Don’t panic,” soothes our server as she introduces the menu-free concept involving trolleys and trays from which we’ll choose our dishes. What those dishes are likely to be, we’re not told. A negroni “from the trolley” does little to soothe my nerves, though I appreciate its note of appetite-awakening szechuan pepper.