Sho Foo Doh at Filly Brook - Review - Leytonstone - London - The Infatuation
"If someone were to draw a beer-garden version of that ascent of man diagram, Filly Brook’s covered terrace would be its final beautiful form, standing on two legs, shoulders back, and making eyes at the nearest bottle of biodynamic orange wine. Housed in a former Air Cadets lodge, this airy, foliage-accented Leytonstone spot may be masquerading as a chill local bar, but it has solved one of the ultimate dining dilemmas: Where do you eat when that instinctive London longing to sit on a picnic bench in the sunshine hits, but you don’t want to compromise your personal promise to not eat battered chicken in public anymore? Enter Sho Foo Doh and udon so bouncy it could pursue a career as a trampoline’s stunt double. photo credit: Filly Brook photo credit: Filly Brook Filly Brook’s long-term Japanese residency is all about reinvented izakaya classics that, helpfully, can be consumed while your other hand goes about the important business of draining a pint. Think eggy potato salad with a live-wire dosage of chilli oil, a crispy gyoza skin tostada topped with citric tuna, and golden tonkatsu that deserves a lingering dip in the sweet plum sauce. Even the simple shrimp wontons don’t require a publicist—couples seeking a cheeky mezcalita post-pup-walk and happy, hoppy group hangs all get neighbour envy and wind up with dumpling and dan dan additions to their tables. Stick around once the chopsticks have been cleared away. Come sundown, a DJ hits the decks inside and Filly Brook becomes the E11 after-party that’s always worth getting a little Negroni blurry for. Food Rundown Potato Salad Potato salad, meet chilli oil. Chilli oil, meet potato salad. Charmed, we’re sure. This is a pairing that we’ll now co-opt in our kitchens every summer from now until death. Plot twist: Parmesan and chilli oil are an “it” couple we never saw coming, but we’re very into them together. photo credit: Heidi Lauth Beasley Tuna Tostada One word: fresh. To really make all the wasabi and avocado chunks pop, squeeze the limes like you’ve been put in charge of making margaritas for 40 people. Also, we’d like to formally diagnose using fried gyoza skins as tostadas as: genius. photo credit: Heidi Lauth Beasley Tonkatsu The golden panko crust on this hulking, chewy pork cutlet has perfected the ombre finish better than 99.9% of London’s hairdressers. Props to the accompanying plum sauce that is sweet, a touch herbal, and—hello, subterfuge—makes the little silver dish it comes in worth hogging for the extra-crunchy crusty bits. photo credit: Heidi Lauth Beasley Vegan Dan Dan Udon Truthfully, a majority of our trust issues come from dating people who believe that the mere presence of a guitar at a house party is a personal invite to begin a brooding rendition of “Wonderwall.” But the fact that there isn’t any meat in this, forgive us, inherently “meaty” sauce is a close second. Spice-wise, it’s hot, hot, hot, and the udon’s springboard texture is up there with some of the best noodles in this city. photo credit: Heidi Lauth Beasley" - Heidi Lauth Beasley
