Goetz B.
Yelp
Blixen is a great place for a good wine with some tasty food. It's definitely a place I will keep in mind when in the area.
Located at Old Spitalfields Market, Blixen is a beautiful restaurant with a friendly, upmarket touch. I especially liked the wood-panelled ceiling, as it somewhat contrasts the shiny design with a bit of rustic-looking wood.
All staff, from the door to all other people who came past my table, were overly friendly and professional - it was a joy to eat there.
When browsing through the menu, I found it difficult to choose. Not so much because I wanted to eat everthing, more because I am a bit picky sometimes and most dishes did not really appeal to me. On the other hand, the wine list is great with a few options I would like to try.
After making up my mind, I ordered an Austrian 2013 Grüner Veltliner, Huber, Traisental - a very refreshing and tasty white wine with a good balance between light and fruity. The wine worked well alone, but also with a little bit salty food or a fruity dessert.
I decided to go with the crispy pork belly, spaetzle, kale & quince as main. The plate looked nice and the skin was indeed very crispy. The finely salted pork was great together with the sweet quince. I was excited to taste the spaetzle - and they disappointed me and also made me happy. As someone who knows how do prepare proper spaetzle by hand, they simply did not look right. They were more like knoepfle than spaetzle. Spaetzle should usually be a bit bigger, longer. Also, they were very crispy, all of them, which is not quite what I had expected. But that said, these little things added a nice texture and spaetzle flavour to the dish. I could have done with a bit more sauce, but altogether, the dish was accomplished and very tasty.
The side of cheese and chive mash did not convince me. It is something different, yes, but I thought it was a bit too bland. Nice together with the salty pork, but simply a bit boring on its own. When I go again, I will definitely check out the chips.
To conclude my early dinner, before dashing off to a concert, I opted for the passion fruit tart with raspberry sorbet as recommended by my very helpful and nice waitress. I was not entirely sure about this dish, because passion fruit and raspberry are both acidic - I should not have worried, it was simply a very refreshing summer dessert. Not sweet at all, but two strong fruits and just a beautiful combination.
I wondered a little bit that they did not serve some bread to start with. By the end of my meal, I was full, no bread needed, still this was a small let down for me.
Blixen is a stunning restaurant with well-prepared food, a great wine list and very friendly, helpful staff. Definitely a place I am happy to visit again.