"Like the black roll neck you’re emotionally attached to, a date at Joyau can be made fancy or kept low-key. Tucked inside a Forest Gate railway arch, it serves excellent European small plates and has dim lighting that’s kind to those who’ve had long weeks. Sit between stacks of wine books that make it feel like you’re flirting over the kitchen counter. But one that’s got vases of wildflowers rather than passive aggressive sticky notes. Like moths to a flame, couples drift in, drawn by the seductive beads of condensation rolling down glasses of rosé and the need for somewhere a little more special than their local pub." - Jake Oliver, Rianne Shlebak, Sinead Cranna
Amy Heycock
