Bianca’s stands out in a sea of small plates restaurants - Review - London - The Infatuation
"Bianca’s is a minimalist restaurant in Stoke Newington with a sparsely worded menu that mixes Italian dishes and East Asian influences, has opinions on wine, and an open kitchen that’s single-handedly keeping the label maker industry in rude health. Sound familiar? It is on paper. Except, Bianca’s is refreshingly obsessed with food and is bound to impress anyone who knows their way around a Natoora order. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch Pause Unmute Run by the same team as Casa Fofò, this understated restaurant on a corner of Stoke Newington High Road has the component parts of a fine dining restaurant. But, instead of imposing its mantra or childhood traumas on you, Bianca’s will serve you a superb plate of buttery scorched mackerel with herbs and kombu before gliding away. It’s precise and considered. Although it's still a neighbourhood restaurant where you can sit at the counter and share a bowl of cavatelli while watching an orchestra of tweezers. There’s a breezy confidence to everything here. Just don’t expect the room’s energy to ramp up. Even when full, nobody in Bianca’s is the loudest person in the room. Like its small and big-ish plates, Bianca’s encourages thoughtful conversation that’s paused for an unexpectedly brilliant pork-filled sugar doughnut. The fiddly-ness and lack of merch at Bianca’s won’t be to everyone’s taste. But this isn’t trying to be the most-talked restaurant in N16. It’s trying to be the most impressive. Food Rundown Bread & Brown Butter You know when the server walks to the Magimix to start whipping the butter, it’s going to be good. And it is. photo credit: Jake Missing Egg, Kimchi, Furikake Where the egg mayo from Café Deco tastes like the result of a many childhood Interrail trip, this take from Bianca’s feels like it came after a holiday to Japan. The egg is soft, the mayo has a hint of funky fermentation about it, and the furikake adds a pleasing fishiness. photo credit: Jake Missing Doughnut, Pork, Lovage In a different setting this sweet and savoury dish could turn into social media bait, but here it’s a showcase of inventive cooking. The sugared doughnut bun is impeccable (although we would have loved it to come warm) and the pork patty inside is juicy with a great thwack of lemongrass. On top there’s pickled daikon and a smear of lovage mayonnaise. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch Flourish Shoots, Pumpkin Seeds These guys come from the broccoli family and there’s an amazing balance of textures in this dish. The greens still have bite, there’s the welcome crunch from the pumpkin seeds, and then the loose pumpkin seed dressing adds a delicious light creaminess. photo credit: Jake Missing Cavatelli, Fermented Cream, Wild Garlic Never ignore the single pasta dish. It’s a rule of life that’s one again proven here. Faultless bullets of cavatelli in adult-kiddy cream sauce that mixes shallots, barely cooked English peas, and wild garlic with a little funky fermented cream. You’ll shovel it. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch" - Jake Missing
