Maeve’s Kitchen – review

A Brazilian Moqueca (fish stew)

Sometimes heaven is a home-cooked supper. And sometimes the best kind of restaurant is the one that doesn’t feel like a restaurant at all. Good, simple food, nice booze and being looked after like you’re sitting round your friend’s kitchen table, rather than being fussed over like a prize poodle.

Maeve’s Kitchen in Clapton, opened towards the end of last year and already deservedly packed on a Saturday night, is one of this rare breed of eateries in London.

It’s owned by Dominic Dromgoole, the artistic director at the Globe, and is named after Irish novelist Maeve Binchy. The cooking celebrates the gentle pace of life and simple tastes of the rural villages where her stories unfold.

It’s a smart little place, with cosy yellow walls, olive-coloured paneling, scrubbed wooden floors and tables and full of fresh flowers. Stews and one-pot dishes are the speciality – there are even one-pots available for brunch. No voguish burger joint here – it distinguishes itself on the quality, rather than the novelty, of its cooking.

We started off with rabbit liver and mushrooms fried up with some herbs and served on a nice slice of course sour dough toast. Simple flavours magicked into excellence by the freshness of the ingredients, brevity in the pan and well-judged seasoning.

We washed it down with some of the lovely pale ale and weissbier on offer from Hackney Central’s Pressure Drop Brewery. The house wine comes by the carafe from Borough Wines and was excellent too.

Mains were equally good. We picked the chili con carne, hacked into big chunks of meat rather than minced, which left the beef juicy and tender.

Then there was more rabbit, this time browned in the pan and cooked up in a comforting stew of tomatoes, onions and celery, ladled into a well of soft creamy mash. I couldn’t imagine anything I’d rather be eating as mid-Atlantic gales and rain battered the windows and the second thrust of winter sets in.

There’s hearty vegetarian-friendly fare too. The butternut squash, chickpeas, spinach and coriander stew looked great, as did the salmon ragu with tomato, spinach and mushrooms.

Pudding was just as good. There was a lovely plate of warm chocolate chip bread and butter pudding with a golden caramelised topping and a pear, ginger and almond tart that was really great too.

Not only is it a wonderful place to eat supper, but it doesn’t assault your wallet. Mains are no more expensive than £11 and starters are around £4, which is pretty decent, especially for London, whichever way you slice it. Lovely evening, lovely people.

181 Lower Clapton Road, E5 8EQ
www.maeveskitchen.com