Jones and Sons, 23-27 Arcola Street, London, E8 2DJ

Tucked away in a side street in Dalston stumbling distance from my house, I was overjoyed when I read that they were looking for the ‘discerning Dalston diner’. I’m not a hipster I just want decent food, cocktails and space and don’t mind paying for it.   Formerly in the old Arcola theatre building; now a contemporary warehouse with an open kitchen and spacious tables, it felt a step up from the Dalston competition. It was a grown up restaurant in a sea of cheap eateries.   The menu is modern European with lots of fish dishes but also dishes from the grill.

Diver scallops

The cocktails were interesting, my ‘Rosemary’s baby’ inclusive of blood spatter was fun but erred on the side of style over substance.  The more traditional cocktails went down well as did the wine list which was reasonably priced. The menu had starters ranging around the £7/8 with hand dived scallops at only £8.50 which were delicious. The main courses were also reasonably priced (around £14), if you didn’t have lobster (£23.50) which I did. Everyone agreed the food was excellent, great sauces and good accompaniments.  We preferred my French fries to the triple cooked chips, where the portion was on the small side. However the surprise star was the macaroni cheese which fed us all and was creamy and delicious.

Finally from the great food to the atmosphere, which was the reason I booked here. The age group was definitely older than the rest of Dalston’s hipster hangouts, which meant there was less large groups and more couples and groups of 4’s. It was still buzzy with some good background music that wasn’t deafening.  Service was top notch throughout the meal with good attention to detail, but also very friendly.  They do brunch too so really looking forward to trying that. I’m hoping for it to become a regular.

Talk rating: 4/5