Review: Ask For Janice Farringdon
A 2 minute walk from Barbican station ‘Ask for Janice’ is one of the ‘Urban Leisure Group’ clan who reside all around London.
As a lover of East London it was really refreshing to find a central restaurant that has the down-to-earth, non-corporate feel of its Eastern counterparts.
Upon entering we were struck by the trendy shabby chic interior with worn wooden benches, neon signs and kooky beer taps. We were shown to our seats and the staff were so helpful in finding a space for Frank (my bike) to set up shop (don’t worry I am not counting Frank as my guest!).
The extensive drinks menu covered everything from New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc’s to Beavertown Brewery’s famous ‘Gamma Ray’, plus the massive gin menu floored us! I opted for a crisp white and my friend a black tea to help us browse the food menu.
Everything looked amazing. The menu was unusual with dishes including sardines and Yorkshire rhubard on toast; Chargrilled lamb cutlets with Norfolk quinoa and mint; and Baked eggs, merguez sausage, roasted peppers and yoghurt. However we opted for a few other really interesting sounding dishes!
The first was the Jerusalem artichoke hash with salt baked beets, sea kale and deep fried egg. Oh golly the deep fried egg was divine placed on top of the fluffy hash, and the dish looked so beautiful decorated with deep purple/red beets.
Our second choice was the Yorkshire black badger bean dahl. This was a decadent rich and creamy dish served with warm flatbreads. It had a lovely thick consistency with a subtle warming flavour!
We had a side order of crispy wild garlic fries (which had a lovely strong garlic flavour!), plus some braised beef croquettes. The croquettes were filled to the brim with melt in your mouth juicy beef and when dipped in the tangy mustard that left your tongue partying!
Luckily Ask for Janice also houses the famous Crosstown Doughnuts! So we couldn’t leave without trying the Sea Salt Caramel & Banana Cream variety on offer.
And it was goooooooooooooooood……………….
With mains ranging from £6.50 – £10.50 and sides £3 – £4, this cool café isn’t going to break the bank. Plus the staff were super dooper friendly and spent an age chatting to them! (however we left as I’m pretty sure they had jobs to do!) So helpful and attentive I’d more than happily go back and recommend to all.
Website: http://askforjanice.co.uk/ / ulg.co.uk/
Twitter: @askfor_janice / @urbanleisure