Sally Abé’s Hackney first solo restaurant is a love letter to British cooking – and proves for once and for all that English food isn’t beige
Image by Jodi Hinds
Sally Abé
British food doesn’t have a good rep. I was out for dinner the other day with an Italian, and he asked me, with not a hint of irony, what English cuisine was, and then proceeded to look increasingly dismayed as I launched into a detailed description of a Sunday roast (‘this is just meat and potatoes, no?’).
The thing is, British cooking has struggled to get away from the notion that it is really rather beige. And then we run into the problem of trying to define what even counts as “British” cooking; centuries of colonisation and migration have turned the Brit kitchen into a mishmash of world cuisines, especially in a city like London. But someone who knows British produce better than anyone else is Sally Abé – and she has made it the focus of her new restaurant, Teal.
The background
I’ve got a bit of a girl crush on Sally Abé. She grew up in Nottingham (like me!), was once a journalist (like me!), but (unlike me) has led kitchens in some of London’s greatest restaurants and pubs – including four Michelin-star-winning years at the Harwood Arms, and launching and leading The Pem at Conrad London St James.
She named her 2024 memoir A Woman’s Place is in the Kitchen, an apt summary of her relentless advocacy for equality, diversity and better working conditions for everyone in hospitality. She is cool. She is a fantastic chef. And she finally has her own place in Hackney.
Image by Jodi Hinds
Snacks include Scotch eggs and angel on horseback
The space
To get to Teal, you must first get to Hackney – the overground’ll do it – and then wander down a village-like street, past wine bars and the like, to the restaurant. Sally’s sister has done the decorating – no prizes for guessing what colour the walls are – and the small space has a homely, friendly atmosphere. There are cookbooks on shelves and marbled lamps on the tables. A marble counter overlooks the kitchen, in which a giant tub of marmite is visible, as well as Sally herself, blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders as she works the pass.
A teal is also, we’re told, a type of duck, and sure enough, there are duck-related nods peppered around the place – including the full stop on the restaurant’s logo, shaped like a duck egg, and a mallard service bell that general manager Abraham, eyes full of glee, tells us he installed himself (‘her sister hates it,’ he caws).
Image by Jodi Hinds
Angels on horseback
Image by Jodi Hinds
Teal sirloin
The food
Do not – and I repeat, do not – skip the snacks. These glorious, one-biters are Abé’s cooking in miniature. There are both angels and devils on horseback; we go for the angels, each a deep-fried oyster, puffed to perfection in a proper fish-and-chip batter. There’s a Scotch egg, too, presented on a doily and doused in an Oxford sauce that’s so English it practically speaks in RP.
Knife and fork bacon is, we discover, bacon so good you eat it with a knife and fork, sprinkled with miniscule mushrooms and a dab of cream. We also order the bone marrow, nutty and buttery, topped with breadcrumbs and a few snails – all of which are designed to be smeared on toast and demolished.
There is, technically, meat and two veg for mains. But it would be an insult call it such: to insult this beautiful piece of chicken, its skin perfectly rendered on one side, layered with leaves and swimming in a creamy, pea-dotted sauce. And there are mussels, slid from their shells and piled, plump, atop Jersey Royals and bathed in something close to cauliflower cheese.
It all closes with a penny lick, a £1 scoop of ice-cream in a granita glass that requires a certain dexterity of the tongue – and in reality, eaten about as seductively as a horse slobbering sugar cubes out of your palm.
The verdict
When was the last time you had a penny lick? An angel on horseback? A golden smear of bone marrow on toast? Sally Abé is not only doing something unique, but she’s proving that British food isn’t beige. If anyone ever asks you what British food is, tell them it’s Teal.
The bill
Dinner for two with wine will set you back about £180.
52 Wilton Way, London E8 1BG; tealbysallyabe.com
