Baltic

I first visited this Polish restaurant and bar one evening ages and ages ago. On the corner of the cut, I remembered it as being buzzy, busy, dark and attractively noisy and that I felt a little too old and not quite fashionable enough to be there. So I was surprised when a business colleague suggested it for lunch recently.

The innocuous entrance – two huge wooden doors with micro fairy lights and a couple of chairs and tables on a small frontage enters into a slim, sophisticated, intimate and beautifully decorated bar. Loved the metal work, the textured walls, inset benches and warm hues. It is a contrast to enter the large airy restaurant area with its high ceilings – this was once, apparently, a Citroen garage.

The lunch menu is almost as exciting as the main menu. Although there were plenty of interesting options on the starter menu, I stuck with tradition and ordered smoked salmon blinis (£6.50) while my colleague tackled the seared scallops with courgettes, garlic and coriander.

Resisting the grill menu offering mouth watering sounding dishes such as haunch of venison (£17), Sirloin Aberdeen Angus steak (£17.50), roasted partridge (£14.50) and ossobuco (shin of veal with spetzle dumplings - £19.50) I browsed the fish menu – pausing a bit at the roast halibut with crayfish, leek and celery (£18.50) and settling finally on the set lunch option of venison meatballs with spiced plum sauce (set menu of two courses £14.50). The food was good enough to distract us from our business conversation – which was lively enough anyway.

As it was lunchtime on a work day we didn’t dare sample any of the cocktails or even peek at one of the most extensive wodka menus you can imagine - that alone would be worth returning for.