Queen's, Camberwell

Charred hispi cabbage and asparagus

We first properly met Mike, the owner and chef behind Queen's in Camberwell, at his excellent supper club back in 2012. I've had a soft spot for his great cooking and strong desire to use local and sustainable ingredients ever since.

Like quite a few other people, we joined the incredible surge of donations in the dying hours of his Kickstarter project last year to help Mike open his own restaurant. We were in New Zealand when the restaurant opened last year so exchanged our ticket to the opening party for a voucher at the restaurant that we used on Saturday night.

Flat bread and harissa oil at Queens in Camberwell

Between the three of us we were able to order all but one dish on the menu which gave us an excellent opportunity to see what Queen's was all about. As expected there were lots of seasonal ingredients with new season asparagus, peas, cabbages and salads heavy on the menu. The grill is heavily used with lots of charred dishes and in line with their street food stall there are quite a few homemade pickles on the menu.

Kent asparagus manti 

My favourite dishes included the home made flat bread, a signature from their street food stall. Charred and rubbed in spices it was a great start.

Next up was another favourite, the charred hispi cabbage and asparagus with garlic, mustard and fresh cheese. The dish might have been a little oily for some, but I really liked the new season asparagus.

The whole juicy grilled plaice came with vividly coloured beetroot borani (yoghurt dip) and an amazingly smokey spring onion. It tasted like the most intensely smoked aubergine I've ever had.

Photos of the other dishes we sampled, none of which put a foot wrong, are included above and below.

Rounding off the meal was a single scoop of dark chocolate sorbet. I'm not usually one for chocolate ice creams but I really liked this version which came with charred oranges (the grill even gets used in for the desserts!), cocoa nibs and nuts.

Rosehip and star anise marinated pork belly with raddichio

At £98 for the three of us, including a bottle of wine, I thought the meal was good value. The restaurant manager was welcoming and on top of all the restaurant comings and goings. The rest of the staff were friendly and helpful, although it was a little uncoordinated when we were asked three times if we had ordered drinks and our table could have used a wipe before desserts came out too.

Camberwell is definitely lucky to have Queen's and it seems inexplicable to me that they aren't as busy as nearby Silk Road or Theo's pizza. I'm sure it won't be long before the locals are queueing here too.

Whole plaice

Fried potatoes with harissa and seaweed aioli

Marinated lake district lamb, carrots and pickles

Dark chocolate tart and dark chocolate sorbet

Queen's
45 Camberwell Church Street

London

SE5 8TR