Elephant, Hackney

I spent most of last month in Spain (see previous post) and although I'm happy enough to be back in cold, wet London town (honest), as the evenings really closed in I was in dire need of a reminder of sunnier times and brighter places. And after scrolling through my holiday photo stream just made me more depressed, I thought I might have more success with Mediterranean food.

Elephant is a restaurant/pub in a handsome old Victorian building on Lower Clapton Road which, Google Street View tells me, has swapped hands an alarming number of times in the last few years. It is now, though, thanks to part Italian owners, serving a short and attractive menu of snacketti (that's my word, not theirs), pizzas and secondi, alongside a list of classic cocktails.

So, after a spicy Margarita (Mexico is sunny too) to lift the mood we nibbled on some of those giant bright-green Italian olives and some nice hot house flatbread (it would make sense if it was pizza dough) which came with an interesting homemade butter flavoured with some kind of winter veg. Clever stuff.

These are ox cheek croquettes with anchovy mayo, and were fantastic things indeed, all soft and gooey and beefy inside and with just the right amount of crunchy breadcrumb coating. Ox cheek croquettes in London I've found range from superlative (Hawksmoor Bar in Spitalfields in about 2010 that came with a thick, glossy beef jus, never been bettered) to diabolical (a restaurant in Pimlico I've long since forgotten the name of where they tasted like dog food and looked like what would happen not long after said dog had finished with them).

Seabass crudo had perhaps an ingredient or two extra than required but the fish was good and it was certainly a colourful if, er, rather rustic presentation.

The one secondi we went for was a giant fillet of excellent cod in breadcrumbs, mainly because we liked the sound of the olive oil mash it came with. Now, obviously there are too many pea shoots - there were some pea shoots and there should ideally, at all times, be none - but they were easily removed and we were left with a very enjoyable dish indeed, the cod flaking beautifully apart.

There was a tendency to put too many things on their house Elephant pizza too - weirdly, and I can't believe this is me saying this, but it could have done without the anchovy which battled rather hard with the other ingredients. But the tomato sauce was good and the dough was excellent, all fluffy and crisp.

Perhaps my odd slight disappointment comes from one of the chefs here being ex-Manteca, and though I probably should have not expected those kinds of fireworks, there wasn't a great deal at Elephant that brought to mind the OG (as I believe the kids these days are saying) on Curtain Road. But the atmosphere was still convivial, the staff friendly and efficient, and if I was a local I'm sure I'd have it on the list for an unpretentious evening out. And that's often more than enough.

7/10

I was invited to Elephant and didn't see a bill, but I think it would have come to about £70/head.