Ritas has been open for around 7 months in the live music
venue, Birthdays. When it first opened it got a lot of love from a lot of
reviewers and was predictably rammed. Following the announcement that Voodoo
Rays is now the place to eat in Dalston (small plates are obviously so 2012, NY
style pizza slice now de riguer) it seems the huge crowd of hipsters has
finally decamped from Ritas meaning that it is now feasible to get a table without
having to wait an hour (FYI 'no reservations' is also so 2012).
The eating area of Ritas is merged into the bar area of
Birthdays giving you chance to stare at what special people are lurking in
Dalston. My personal favourite from the night was the guy with a multipack of
tissue paper under his arm and a briefcase. You’re also liable to be treated to
some classic pop and a small cheer went up when Whitney Houston reared her
impeccable voice.
The menu is obviously small and less small plates, around
the £5/8 mark. The menu has some really interesting dishes on it including
salad with haggis, blackened wings and chilli, cucumber and peanuts. I elected
for the fried chicken roll which looked similar to what you buy from Dixie
Chicken down the road but tasted like how Heston would have made over a simple
chicken fillet. My only regret was not ordering another, served in a brown
paper bag the chicken was battered in buttermilk and came with a spicy and
yogurty sauce. A slightly smaller dish of fried cheese with salted cold
potatoes was excellent; a physics defying runny cheese concoction somehow held
together with panko breadcrumbs. An aubergine parmagana had by the girlfriend
was really well done, small touches in marinating the aubergines and including
capers making the classic dish above the norm. A chocolate ‘pie’ tasted
like it had been made with Nesquik (a good thing in my book) but some random
fruits in the bottom were an odd accompaniment.
Following food, Ritas / Birthdays is not the type of place
you want to hang about unless you’re seeing live music. It is cold,
there are slightly aggressive bouncers in high vis jackets patrolling around
IDing 40 year old men, and concrete décor doesn’t exactly charm (I know everywhere here is concrete but some are more equal than others). The food
however is reason enough to brave this trendiness and enjoy menu but hit those small plates hard or you will, like us, end up in Voodoo
Rays 3 hours later banging on about how cool it is in there.
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