Ottolenghi, Spitalfields
Brunch is the send, and the vegetable list is longer than most restaurants that call themselves vegetarian.1
Why go
Harden's survey covers Yotam Ottolenghi's deli-cafés together and lands hardest on two things. Brunch: You will want to lick the plate
. And the vegetables: Ottolenghi is the master of flavoursome veg (with more veg choices than at most non-veg restaurants)
.1
The same reporters call the dishes tasty, healthy and yummy
and beautifully flavoured
, single out the cakes, and note the kitchen is great on allergens
. The complaints are steady too: a bit on the pricey side
, and space is tight
.1
This site runs the deli counter at the front and the restaurant behind it.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: brunch, if the timing works. Reporters call it the high point of the whole group.1
- Order: a cake off the counter on the way out.1
- Avoid: expecting a long, roomy dinner. Space is tight.1
What locals & experts say
- Harden's survey:
You will want to lick the plate
if you brunch, which reporters call the high point.1 - The same survey, on allergens:
they're great on allergens.
1 - Scope: that praise is about Ottolenghi's deli-cafés as a group, not about Artillery Lane specifically.
Good to know
- Where: 50 Artillery Lane E1 7LJ, off Bishopsgate. Liverpool Street is five minutes.
- Two halves: deli counter at the front, restaurant behind.2
- Allergens: reporters rate the kitchen well here specifically.1
- Age: the first Ottolenghi opened in 2002. That is the group's date, not this room's.
Verdict
should-visit — Deli counter at the front, restaurant behind it, and the survey's instruction is unambiguous: brunch is the high point, and 'you will want to lick the plate'. What separates this from every other Middle Eastern room in London is still the vegetables, and Harden's reporters put it as plainly as anyone has: 'Ottolenghi is the master of flavoursome veg (with more veg choices than at most non-veg restaurants)'. They also single out the cakes and, unusually and usefully, say the kitchen is 'great on allergens'. The complaints are consistent, that it is pricey and the space is tight. It sits a rung below the top because everything published covers the group rather than Artillery Lane, and one of the biggest kitchens in London deserves somebody to write about this room.