Down a cute cobbled street in Canonbury lives this place which is the platonic ideal of a pub. Really it’s a restaurant masquerading as a pub. But it ticks all the boxes – live fire, orange glow of mood lighting mostly sourced from candles, bistro tables, coat hooks incongruously placed on random walls full to bursting with cosy-looking coats and grown-up umbrellas…

 

The place delivers on vibe. It’s absolutely laden with charm. Dripping with it. Which makes sense when you know it’s from the same clever people behind The Albion and The Pig & Butcher – equally stupendous restau-pubs. What I’m saying in a very convoluted way is: it feels like you’re in Paris.

This corner of Islington manages to retain it’s ‘hidden gem’ status, while also offering a plethora of fun things just around the corner. Whether that’s Union Chapel for a gig or a gong bath, or comedy at The Bill Murray – there’s plenty on offer to indulge in after you’ve tickled your taste-buds at Bistro Sable.

The menu at this fine establishment centres classic French dishes – though I love that their Sunday Roast menu is called Les Rosbifs. To start, we loved the Girl Dinner OG of seasonal crudites, served with homemade aioli, and the French onion soup and moules mariniere are as good as anything (and likely better than most) you’d find in France. We also demolished the dover sole meuniere – a delicate prize of a fish, simply cooked in brown butter, lemon and parsley. This is a dish which let’s the quality ingredients do most of the talking. My least favourite dish was the fillet au poivre – simply down to personal preference, as it was finished with high intensity heat which gave it that quintessential, deep chargrilled flavour, which doesn’t tend to do it for me.

 

 

The highlight of the meal was without a doubt the sensational tart tatin. It supposedly ‘serves 2’ but in fact could serve a small village. The pastry perfectly crisp while retaining that perfect chew; the apples silky and soft – with just enough bite to resist being glorified puree. A 10/10 not notes pud, worth the trip alone.