Jimi Famurewa - Asparagus in an envelope? Eccentric Israeli is sending mixed messages

Take a breather: Lilienblum, above, is Eyal Shani's third UK launch in less than a year. Left, chocolate mousse, minute steak and focaccia with sliced tomatoes

FORK AND TALK

Lilienblum 

80 City Road, EC1Y 2BJ. Meal for two plus drinks about £160. Open Tuesday to Friday from noon-11.30pm (kitchen closed from 3pm-5pm) and Saturday from 4pm-11.30pm; lilienblum.co.uk 

★★★✩✩

IF YOU know anything about Israeli restaurateur Eyal Shani, the buccaneering force behind pita chain Miznon, then you will know that there are many things about the conventional dining experience that he apparently disdains. He does not go in for classic napery, preferring to adorn tables with butcher’s paper and a tomato. The freeform jazz of his dish descriptions (“six spicy instruments that will swirl your soul”) signal how he feels about menus that prioritise being decipherable. His habit of serving food in paper bags hints at a war on crockery, washing up, or both. All this was part of the blazing, madcap charm of the first London Miznon; it was the eccentric price of admission that you gratefully paid to access Shani’s astonishing, homestyle Jewish flavours.