Sweet surrender

I had lunch at Waterhouse the new sustainable sibling of Acorn House, on the Regents Canal, Dalston.

It's a funny location and they must be banking on weekend trade or that the area will up-and-come. The premises are sizable and today I was the only diner. The food is Italianate, Jamie-Oliver-ish, with the day's menu displaying summery lightness. I started with a selection of 'mezze', though I wouldn't have used that word for my selection of truffle salami, coppa ham and smoked mackerel. It was all ok, nothing to get excited about though. As a main I'd ordered 'Roast rabbit with couscous, saffron, honey and spices'. Woah . . . this was almost Elizabethan in its sweetness, my teeth sent an emergency telegram to my dentist. It was so sweet that any sense of the spicing or saffron was overwhelmed . . . my Sangiovese was left joyless. A gorilla's handful of raisins colluded with the honey to make it pretty inedible.

What a shame, as the location could actually be pretty nice. I sat outside next to the canal. It'd be good if they replaced the huge banquetting table I sat at with a few daintier spots. The wine list is pretty decent too - I spotted a few Pieropans including 'La Rocca' and the Colombare sweet wine.  What's more, one has to laud it's eco-friendliness, something to which more restaurants should be paying proper attention.

The restaurant is also expensive - that rabbit dish was a whopping £17.50 (must be those newly discovered spices from the Indies). What price urban regeneration?

Waterhouse, 10 Orsman Rd, Dalston. N1 5QJ  020 7033 0123

Comments

[Douglas]

I love Pieropan - introduced Krista of Londelicious to it.

[Anthony Silverbrow]

Now is not the time to bet on any area being up and coming!

[Niamh]

Oh - disappointing! I have been intrigued by this place for a but but haven't made it there yet.

[Kairika]

Waterhouse is a creation of Shoreditch Trust, a government funded regeneration agency, and they want the restaurant to "actively participate and contribute to the development of programmes such as healthy eating, capacity building, training and inclusion in the climate change debate", so food doesn't probably come on top of the list here...

[Helen]

oh dear, I'm sorry you had to experience it so we don't have to! Perhaps Dalston should stick to those wonderful kebabs!