Hosting a pop-up has become the smart way to test the waters before starting out in the big bad world of permanent restaurants. The most successful so far has been Meatailer, who started out as a humble burger van before launching Meat Liquor and Meat Market, and the soon-to-open Meat Mission in Hoxton and another venue in Brighton. Other notable pop-ups-turned-restaurants have included Pitt Cue Co. and Beard to Tail - note that the theme so far has been meat, as pop-ups are intrinsically linked to what is trendy. As fish restaurants are increasing in popularity the time seems right for Bonnie Gull Seafood Shack’s permanent restaurant in Fitzrovia.
Bonnie Gull began life as a Hackney pop-up in 2011, followed by Bonnie and Wild, a fish and game eatery within M. Manze’s in Islington, and Bonnie-On-Sky, a rooftop seafood eatery in London Bridge. The stripy blinds and cramped space fulfil the seaside shack theme, although the marble-topped raw bar for champagne and shellfish tells a different story.
The menu has fish and seafood from all over the British Isles, with dishes like lemon sole, beer battered North Sea haddock and whole Devon crab, the latter boasting intensely rich mayonnaise and succulent crab meat. Also good are the smoked mackerel with grilled beets and new potatoes, and the Isle of Lewis mussels in a sauce made with Aspall cider and smoky bacon. Skinny fries with rosemary are wonderfully aromatic and nicely salted.
A starter of smoked rainbow trout paired with cooked beetroot and a horseradish mousse is a little less successful, each element is individually delicious, just not together. Dessert doesn’t quite live up to its promise either, as the brownie with dulce de leche is a bit too dry, and a combo of dried and fresh banana doesn’t really work.
But overall Bonnie Gull does work, and the final sway is in the great cocktails: the Bonnie Mary with clamato tomato juice is loaded with pepper and topped with a plump oyster as garnish, and their take on a martini swaps vermouth for thyme liquor, resulting in a lightly fragranced drink that’s every bit as robust as the real thing. It’s far too charming a proposal to be just a temporary success.
