This whole “small plate” concept is one I can definitely get behind.

For people like me who struggle to pick only a few items out of a menu, it’s a godsend as it allows us to try a bit of everything, all in the name of sharing and being social.

Not that you need to be a big group to justify ordering the entire menu at Oldroyd…Which is rather a good thing as I wanted to order every single dish.

In my book, this is the sign of a really good restaurant indeed. Not that I was expecting anything else from Tom Oldroyd, formerly of the Polpo fame.
We started off the meal on a high indeed with Summer radishes, smoked cod’s roe & celery salt.

Crunchy, peppery, smoky… So good it got the BF reaching for more (and he doesn’t even like cod roe!).
But the best was still to come. More specifically in the form of the Crab tagliarini provençal with brown crab rouille. 

A stellar dish and one of the best things I’ve ever eaten (and you know me, I do not say that lightly!)Lamb & almond meatballs with salsa romesco was the ultimate comfort food and the pickled garlic slices made for an interesting, refreshing twist on the old classic.  Last (but not least) of the savoury dishes was the Grilled pork ribeye with borlotti beans, chard and hazelnut pistou.

The meat was cooked to perfection and the sweetness of the hazelnut pesto complemented it very well indeed! And so did the zucchini fries! We moved onto pudding with the Olive Oil Chocolate Mousse with salted pistacchio praline and fresh raspberries. But most importantly, we finally got our (admitidely greedy) hands on the Stone fruit & brioche pain perdu, which I’d had my eyes on since the beginning of the meal. And there’s only one word to describe this dish: GLORIOUS!

That dessert alone could easily convince me to pass the doors for another meal at Oldroyd.

That is, if I’m ever organised enough to get a table… the rest of London seems to be well aware of how good a restaurant it is! So if you’re planning a visit, it might be safer to book a table…

Oldroyd, 344 Upper Street, Islington, London N1 0PD