Sune, London E2: ‘Elbow anyone silly enough to think this is for sharing’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
There's a new restaurant called Sune in east London, located at the end of the popular food destination, Broadway Market. The area is known for its variety of artisanal food options, including viennoiserie, sourdough pizza, and pickled capers. As a result, getting a table at any popular spot is quite challenging. Attempting to book a last-minute reservation at Max Rocha's Cafe Cecilia nearby feels nearly impossible, like asking the Tower of London for a crown-fitting. It's all quite amusing!
Presenting Sune, a restaurant that is only open for a few evenings each week. It is owned by Honey Spencer and Charlie Sims, who have been labeled as a "hospitality power couple". This might sound overwhelming, but they are really friendly individuals. To be honest, they are charming, and this is one of the reasons why the place was completely packed on a rainy Wednesday evening, just a few weeks after its opening.
Spencer, Sims, and their chef Michael Robins have impressive backgrounds in the food industry, having worked at various renowned restaurants such as Noma and Lyle's. The Palomar, the Barbary, the Midland Grand Dining Room, and Akoko are additional restaurants that I would trust for a good meal. Spencer, a well-known sommelier, named the restaurant after her mentor Sune Rosforth. As a result, expect a variety of natural wines available by the glass. For those who don't consume alcohol, Spencer will introduce you to the fascinating world of experimental, low-intervention, funky, and kombucha-style brews. These drinks have a unique taste, like distilled elderflower marsh fog with a hint of feet and voles' tears, which I don't mean in any pejorative sense. I love the oddity of non-alcoholic drinks, and it excites me for the future.
In case you haven't had enough of Sune's antics, let me elaborate on the menu. It consists of a single piece of paper that displays approximately 10 different dishes that are constantly being updated. During our visit, one of the options available was salted potato chips accompanied by egg yolk and eel. And when I say "salted potato chips," I'm referring to crispy, homemade chips that possess the perfect amount of saltiness and come with generous amounts of silver-skinned fish.
Sune is a restaurant that, much like Primeur or Westerns Laundry, has a menu full of captivating phrases like "Galician sea urchin and tomato" and "fermented dairy beef tartare and croque monsieur". They also serve eely crisps, grilled pork chop with prawn sauce, and a plate of potatoes. The idea of having a variety of sharing plates, including a turbo cheese sandwich, pasta, and potatoes, may not be considered a proper dinner by some. However, for me, these restaurants are a reflection of the fine produce, memories, influences, restaurants worked in, and countries travelled to.
We enjoyed a freshly baked flatbread straight from the oven that was so hot we had to wait before devouring it. We scooped it through a bowl of delightful whipped horseradish and topped it generously with bright orange salmon roe. It was fantastic! Next came the croque monsieur, which was the only dining option in France for many of us who attended British comprehensive school in the 1980s. Sune's version was crispy, cheesy, sticky, and stinky with diced, seasoned raw beef on top. It was amazing! Although I don't usually care for croque monsieur or beef tartare, I found myself elbowing my friends who thought it was for sharing. The strozzapreti pasta with corra linn cheese was satisfying, but it wasn't a showstopper.
The options for dessert were limited, and the selection included pear tart with sorbet, sorbet with meringue, and Shropshire blue with caraway crackers. The menu did not feature many traditional desserts but offered a choice of alcoholic beverages for those who prefer them. Some of the spirits included Talisker 10-year-old, Laphroaig quarter cask, and 12-year-old Yamazaki, all priced at £30 per serving. The pear tart was enjoyable, with a crispy crust and a pear atop of it that was dressed with a caramel sorbet made with eau de vie. The sorbet's texture was silky and rich enough to be considered ice cream.
Sune offers a mix of impressive and unremarkable culinary experiences, with a frequently changing menu that adds an element of curiosity for return customers. The team at Sune is friendly and motivated, yet still experimenting with their menu in a very public manner. While it's currently easier to secure a table at Sune compared to Cafe Cecilia, the competition is still close.
Sune is a restaurant located at 129a Pritchard’s Road in London E2. It opens for lunch on Fridays and Saturdays from noon until 2:30 pm, while dinner is available on Wednesdays to Saturdays between 5:30 pm and 10:30 pm. Expect to spend around £45 per person for food alone, not including drinks and service.
