Food

Petit Pois Bistro: A touch of elegance in Hoxton

We were excited to find out that the team behind Happiness Forgets and Original Sin launched their first restaurant Petit Pois Bistro in the heart of Hoxton. So 3 weeks in, we decided to give the venue a visit and find out what really is uncomplicated French food!

Walking into the quaint space that Petit Pois occupies filled me with instant calm, the dimmed lights the closely set tables and the clear view of the kitchen reminded me of my travels to Toulouse. We had walked into a little bit of France in the middle of bustling Hoxton; I was amazed how the restaurant drowned out the Hoxton sounds.

Petit Pois offers diners a small menu, which I loved, no pages of complicated things you can’t say with Google translate out, trying to figure out what the heck you ordered. The menu was simple and fit nicely on an A5 piece of paper, flip it over and the day menu is on the other side, simple perfection for me!

My friend and I tried almost everything on the small menu, for starters I opted for Moules Marieniere which were mussels in a buttery garlic sauce, they were divine I had to stop myself from smiling too much. I love seafood and the mussels were perfectly cooked and delicate, you can get mussels wrong and they can end up rubbery, but hats of to the chef who started my meal off perfectly. My friend ate the poached eggs, black pudding and pancetta in red wine sauce, I ordered for her because she was running late. She does not eat poached eggs and I may have wanted to eat both starters to myself, but watching her eat all of her starter was a testimony to the chef’s skills. I tried the combination and the richness of the egg; yolk was perfectly offset by the saltiness of the pancetta and the subtle sweetness of the black pudding, perfection on a plate.

Petit Pois

For our mains I opted for the steak frites with béarnaise sauce, cooked medium like any good steak should be. It was perfect! My friend ate the sea bream, fennel, roast tomatoes and tomato beurre blanc and had the pea shoots, parmesan with honey vinaigrette. She said it was one of the nicest sea bream dishes she had eaten. To accompany our food we had the Carignan red wine, I very rarely write about wine, but this wine needs a small accolade in this piece. The Carignan is a perfectly smooth red wine with a subtle sweetness and complimented every dish we ate. If you love good wine, I highly recommend you ask for a bottle of the Carignan.

Petit Pois

Roll on the dessert; I think we need a moment of silence for the chocolate mousse… As I was approached with the giant bowl of chocolate heaven and it was dished out on my plate, I knew I had made the right choice. Wow, is all I can say it was divine and it’s a must try for everyone even if you are not a dessert lover, you will be converted. My friend ate the lemon financier with lemon ice cream, a beautiful looking cake; I may have forgotten to ask to try her dessert as my mousse mesmerized me. Her plate was clean at the end and that speaks louder than my fluffy words.

Petit Pois

Would I return to Petit Pois Bistro? Yes, yes and yes! To top if off the staff were amazing, they knew their customers, they were really attentive to everyone it was perfect. I always love when owners are part of their staff team, it shows how much they love what they do and Petit Pois oozes love and an attention to detail that has been lost in a lot of London eateries.

Make sure you visit! Why not check it out for yourselves:

Reservations can be made by emailing [email protected] or calling02076133689

Petit Pois Bistro

9 Hoxton Square

London

TN1 6NU

www.petitpoisbistro.com

All Images by Addie Chinn 

INSTAGRAM: @PetitPoisBistro

TWITTER: @PetitPoisBistro

FACEBOOK: Petit Pois Bistro