Morgan M

Morgan Meunier's convivial green-fronted restaurant on an Islington corner has established itself firmly as a neighbourhood beacon of not just fine, but thrilling, dining. The half-frosted windows with signature conceal a rather English-looking setting (you could almost be out in the shires), with well-spaced, well-dressed tables, and staff whose physical fitness in haring up and down stairs is matched only by their courteous efficiency. Meunier's cooking is out of the top drawer, a bold, confident expression of contemporary French modes, the dishes worked thoughtfully enough that they are allowed a season-long stay on the menu, and are all the better for it. Some of them have a bistro-like air - snail ravioli in port and red wine jus, seared Landes foie gras with apricot and orange and toasted brioche - but the preternatural intensity of flavours and professional finish to them transports you somewhere distinctly less prosaic. Haute cuisine arrives in the form of a duo of game, pot-roasted venison and hare à la royale, with chestnut purée in sauce Grand Veneur, or turbot meunière with leek fondue, cauliflower purée, wild mushrooms and champagne froth. The tasting menus, one of which is vegetarian, offer an unrivalled way of testing the parameters, while the chocolate dessert offers you the choice of 45% milk or 70% Guanaja, depending on how much theobromine you feel you can handle. Otherwise, go with pineapple soufflé and coconut sorbet, or look to the trolley of superb artisanal French cheeses.