On the day I had lunch at Roganic, my evening meal was booked for John Salt and with it the opportunity to catch up with Ben Spalding. This gave the chance to see where his cooking has gone since he moved on from leading the Roganic kitchen.

John Salt, formerly Keston Lodge, on Upper Street in Islington is first and foremost a bar. However, the reason for the buzz about it is the restaurant tenancy on the first floor where Ben Spalding has chosen to work his magic. Prior to his time at Roganic, Ben spent time at an amazing cast of places including 28+ in Gothenburg, Per Se in New York, Gary Rhodes W1, L’Autre Pied, Royal Hospital Road and Vue du Monde in Melbourne. More recently, he spent time running Stripped Back, a pop up in Broadway market giving his own unique take on street food.

When I first arrived I had the entire balcony to myself – I felt like King of the World. As other diners arrived the eating area acquired a nice buzz helped by the additional hubbub from the busy downstairs bar. Others have complained about the downstairs noise but I thought the volume levels helped give the place a good atmosphere especially when the music of Blur filtered through. Furnishing in the restaurant centred round a long bench seat that runs the length of the balcony with plain tables and wicker dining chairs.

The staff were excellent throughout the meal being happy to talk and showing good knowledge about the dishes even though this was just the second night of opening. Most of the dishes were delivered by the chefs who had worked on them so it was a nice way to interact with the team who were responsible for what turned out to be a wonderful meal.

The menu on the night was a set 8 course menu starting with additional nibbles at the beginning and end. The plates of tasters included deliciously nutty toasted pumpkin seeds that were sprinkled with a spicy chilli seasoning for a long warm aftertaste. The radish had a narrow trench cut in the surface that was then filled with smoked cream cheese – a genius touch. Best of all though was the small short rib croquette where the delicious salty beef was paired with a vibrant orange marmalade. 

Breads were also impressive. The bowl was made of bread. However, the wait staff advised that eating the breadbowl sholud be avoided although others tried. The breads themselves were a malt loaf, sourdough flatbread and a red wine bread that Ben Spalding described as a work in progress, already knowing his next step to improve it. They came with churned and unchanged Swedish butter. The dense malt loaf with its generous mix of fruit and nuts was delicious. The red wine bread was even better with plump raisins throughout the dough and a lovely sugared crust. The flatbread had an unexpected cheese jalapeno flavour that made it tremendously moreish.

The first course of poached and roasted hen of the woods with aromatic ketchup, Douglas fir crumbs, lettuce and persimmon got the tasting menu off to a very strong start. The grilled lettuce gave a sharp contrast to the lush, fleshy mushroom that was bursting with flavour. The fir crumbs added a nice tangy taste while the rich ketchup added some sweetness to the plate. As a whole this was spectacular.

Next stop on the John Salt journey was the dish that has generated the most discussion, chicken on a brick. This consisted of a chicken liver parfait with lingonberries, crispy chicken skin and sweetcorn topping a brick that had been coated with a bitter caramel. Although tending towards the gimmicky, there is a method behind the madness in the dish. The warmth of the parfait is designed to make the caramel sweat releasing bitter notes that cut through the fattiness of the parfait. Although never tempted to lick the brick i did work hard to scrape the surface off the caramel to combine it with the liver and it was a great combination. I loved chicken skin when I had it in dishes at Roganic and L’Enclume last year and the rough nutty crunch that it added here was wonderful.  The unconventional use of the brick should not overshadow that this was a lovely dish.

The Machiavelli egg continued the impressive run of dishes. Fried egg was served with a Yukon Gold mousse, smoked watermelon and parsley sauce that was poured onto the dish at the table. The egg was the undoubted star with its rich yolk but all of the ingredients combined wonderfully. The smoked watermelon cubes gave bursts of refreshment in the mousse. The topping of crispy potato crumbs added some welcome crunch to give a bit more texture to the dish. Lovely stuff.

The scallop dish was used to challenge the diner’s perceptions. The plate with a scallop, kiwi and culatello sandwich paired with cider butter and cappers had shaved truffle added at the table. I asked for a cutlery but it turned out that the intention was that the combo should be eaten as a sandwich. Horror – I had to get my hands in there? This ran totally counter to my upbringing by parents who have been known to eat a McDonald’s sandwich with a knife and fork. Although I was given the knife and fork I went for it anyway. Two sweet juicy scallops were the outer layers of the sandwich and their combination with the fresh kiwi and salty ham was excellent. The whole dish was a delight and it was a pleasure to get sticky fingered in the pursuit of the glorious flavours.

I had really been looking forward to the rainbow trout poached in maple syrup but it turned out to be very frustrating for me.  I have had problems in the past where my palate is sometimes unable to pick up very gently flavoured fish such as snapper or halibut sushi, cooked flatfish or roast cod. I loved the texture of the trout but just couldn’t taste it. It was such a shame because the accompanying toasted almonds, kaffir lime crème fraiche, rotten mango juice and dill garnish were all lovely. 

Never mind, things picked back up again with the vacherin risotto. Carnaroli rice was combined with vacherin cream, grilled cucumber vinaigrette, duck skin and chives. The risotto base was richly decadent with the full-flavoured vacherin giving it a nice tangy depth. The crispy duck skin provided a salty crunch to the dish whilst the refreshing vinaigrette combined superbly with the cream in the dish.

The final savoury course was nothing short of magnificent. Heel of beef cooked in wine was served with kimchi, roasted carrot purée, mushroom and bok choi. Lemon thyme gravy came in a separate jug and this was poured on at the table. In a nice touch, the jug with the remaining gravy was left on the table. The dish was a wonderful blend of flavours that emerged more as the dish sat. Of particular note was the ginger in the kimchi sitting under the meat that assimilated into the gravy. Carrot powder added intense fresh flavour that worked perfectly with the rich tender meat. I absolutely loved this dish and it was a shame for it to end. Help was at hand for prolonging the pleasure. The remains of the fantastic gravy was much too good to send back to the kitchen so I ended up drinking it from the jug.

A palate cleanser of pomegranate and lime fizz provided the break between the savoury courses and dessert.

The dessert was listed as fennel on the menu. Italian fennel marinated in absinthe was served with chewy rapeseed cake, blackberries, lemon thyme granita and Tonka bean ice cream. The fennel worked really well in this setting because the marinade toned down its sharper flavours. The lemon thyme granita was exceptional here and the juicy blackberries were a perfect accompaniment. This was a lovely refreshing end to the main courses.

Things weren’t quite finished there. A salt and pepper chocolate mousse with pineapple syrup provided the last note. The delicious light salty chocolate mousse really benefitted from the pineapple.

Overall verdict.
This was just superb. I had a brilliant time as a result of the exemplary front of house staff and Ben Spalding’s wonderful innovative food. 

Would I revisit John Salt?
In a heartbeat. I would recommend to anyone who likes food to visit John Salt if they can get a reservation. 

Overall Rating - 4.5/5