Black Pig with White Pearls – 12/08/12 61 Stoke Newington High Street, N16 8EL

I am always very excited when a new restaurant launches near me, getting great food within walking distance is reason enough to stay in Stokie.  We are lucky to have a good selection of Turkish, Indian and cafes but a Tapas breaks the established mould around here.  

It is located on Stoke Newington high street replacing Bodrum café, which I thought was popular, maybe the proliferation of new cafes has forced it out. The refit is very minimal with ‘eclectic’ furniture and seats about 20 (they did tell us about a private room downstairs too).  I like the relaxed décor and service, but saw others leave on arrival so not everyone’s cup of tea. 

The dishes are split between main dishes to share and tapas.  The tapas are reasonably priced at £4.50 with sharing dishes such as the Iberico ham plate around £15. Ordering these dishes does push the price up, but is reflected in the quality of the ham.  The real anomaly was the salad at £6.50 which seems a bit steep in comparison with the amount of work that goes into the other dishes. The highlight for us was the black ink squid risotto; I could have eaten this as a main. The wine list could be a little more extensive with more bottles under the £20 mark, but on the plus side the house white was good.  We encountered friendly and attentive service, but it is hard to judge as it was a quiet Sunday evening. This was equally true of the ambiance; music was traditional Spanish when we arrived and progressed to chart music. I think they were finding their feet with the noise levels, with just the 2 of us they didn’t want it too quiet, but at times it got a bit loud, however it was fine overall.   Not cheap when you consider the location and decor, but worth it for the quality of food.

Talk rating: 4/5