Beagle – worth making a voyage to

Steak and chips at Beagle. Photograph: Eleonore de Bonneval

You, like me, may have walked past Beagle and wondered who would want to eat dinner stuffed under the arches of Hoxton London Overground station with trains rumbling past every ten minutes.

Plenty of people, it turns out, and with good reason. Part coffee takeaway, part restaurant, it’s bright and airy inside with light coming in from a high wall of windows along one side and is lively with the hum and thrum of diners and barflies even at the start of the week.

There’s a classy collection of drinks on offer here for the bibulous among us. We tried the Yorkshire Rhubarb, a pretty translucent pink confection of infused gin, bitter orange, lime and tonic; and the Silver Fox, a potent mixture of gin, vermouth, sherry, lillet and lavender.

The first was gorgeous and light and the second was so strong it took my breath away: both were a welcome departure from the sappy melted-Calippo-style fruit shoots frequently passed off as cocktails in London.

We kicked off with a delicate saucer of sea bass ceviche that was zesty and fresh and tasted like warm holidays and glittering seas, as well as a hearty slab of rabbit brawn. Often overbearing at the start of a meal, the brawn wasn’t as heavy at all; it was good and chunky with zingy piccalilli slicing through the rich flavour of the meat.

The onglet steak came perfectly medium rare: glorious forkfuls of succulent meat, crispy duck fat chips and some hefty horseradish. As a foil for the meat we also had two lovely light fresh slip soles with tomatoes and a green herb sauce.

The staff know the menu backwards, there’s a great atmosphere and the food is simple, but excellent so it’s well worth a visit. Cocktails start at £8 and bottles of wine start from £18.50. Starters are from £5.50 and mains from £13.50.

Beagle
397-400 Geffrye Street
E2 8HZ
www.beaglelondon.co.uk