Grace Dent reviews Pond Dalston

Hawaiian-themed hideaway Pond Dalston makes Grace Dent eat her words
Bloody great: Pond Dalston
Grace Dent14 October 2014

One of the curious pleasures of my job is how my nights out are so damn unpredictable. Restaurants with press releases boasting all the buzz words that make a critic gooey and pliable often transpire to bebig dull duds. By turn, restaurants sounding so unpromising that loved ones must suffer at least two hours of my pessimistic pre-dinner mewling often turn out to be utter joy.

I was not in the mood for Hawaiian food in Dalston on any of the 17 times my editor suggested I swing by Pond for cocktails, sashimi and steak poke. The address suggested Pond was in an industrial yard; the name suggested a damp space brimming with frogs. God knows I’ve kissed enough of those. No. My mind’s eye had painted Pond as an atrocious Tiki hut run by moneyed Dalston émigrés serving passable themed drinks with too much pineapple and forgettable food.

Another curious pleasure of my job is being re-reminded what an absolute tit I am on a regular basis, because Pond was bloody great. Probably one of my favourite dinners of 2014 so far. It’s getting to that time when end-of-year lists are made. If the swift passing of time jars heavily with you, then you’re in the right mood for a visit to Pond and a large, restorative cocktail called Duck Duck Goose, made with vodka and sweet potato syrup.

The food at Pond is marvellous. The Smokin Cow is an enormous, Desperate Dan portion of smoky, melting beef rib on sweet roasted garlic mash. I’d like to thank the chef personally for bringing okonomiyaki into my life. Imagine a Japanese-influenced savoury pancake/omelette/pizza made with eggs, flour, cabbage and, at Pond, pineapple and Spam. Yes, I know, Spam!

In Hawaii — I have it on Pond’s authority — Spam is highly popular and not remotely close to the British culinary torture we view it as. I adore Pond for shoving Spam nigiri on the sushi menu because it’s literally the last thing most Brits would opt to eat, but once sampled is so headbangingly moreish one could guzzle an entire tray.

This is not Tiki territory. There isn’t an inflatable flamingo, a fake plastic garland or a bamboo beach umbrella in sight. Instead there is a large, elegant, dimly lit space with a fabulous long cocktail bar serving serious-minded drinks. We tried a very decent Ada on the Beach, a tribute to the legendary Savoy head bartender and creator of the Hanky Panky, Ada Coleman, which blends genever, banana liqueur and Fernet-Branca. I medicated my initial misgivings about Pond by ordering the Dashboard Hula, a tall, fresh glass of lemongrass tea with gin, fresh lemon and absinthe. The world simply seemed a cheerier place after that cocktail, even if it would have taken me three good goes to find Hawaii on a map.

If you’re making a booking at Pond, angle for one of the large red booths in the back room, which feel gloriously private. On the Wednesday night we visited, the place was moderately busy. It deserves to be fuller, even if I am severely screwing my chances of a last-minute okonomiyaki binge. We ate a large fresh assortment of gravlax, which arrived on a slick of shichimi togarashi (seven pepper) hollandaise.

A large sharing plate of sambal black cod on shitake rice with miso poached egg was a little too sludgy for my guest, but I’m a sucker for kedgeree in any form so I helpfully demolished it. A white chocolate cheesecake arrived deconstructed, speckled with yuzu fruit sauce, and was declared a success. Not many restaurants send you to your taxi extolling the virtues of Spam, but that’s another curious pleasure about my job: sometimes, when you’re not laughing, you’re learning.

Pond Dalston

Unit G2, Stamford Works, 3 Gillett Street, N16 (020 3772 6727; pond-dalston.com)

1 Dashboard Hula £9

1 Ada on the Beach £9

1 sushi £14

1 okonomiyaki £12

1 gravlax £12.20

1 Smokin Cow £21

1 black cod £23.50

1 pudding £10

Drinks £72

TOTAL £182.70

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