We were big fans of the original Prawn on the Lawn, the Highbury fishmonger that turned into a small restaurant serving small plates in the shop at night. Due to its licence that meant it could only serve cold food, plus its tiny space and popularity, it was always destined for bigger things and when Le Coq closed down round the corner, the owners snapped up the space and moved in.
The original is now Linden Stores and the new Prawn on the Lawn is more popular than ever. Though it’s still not the biggest space it does have more room and, crucially, an actual kitchen, which means there is a selection of hot dishes on the menu. We kicked off with a glass of Cornish fizz and a couple of oysters, which were deep fried and coated in an amazing garlic creme fraiche whilst we looked at the rest of the menu written on a chalkboard on the wall.
You can get whole fish from the fishmonger counter, which would be great for a bigger group but we stuck to the small plates selection so that we could try more dishes. First up we had very lightly seared tuna served with an Asian-inspired dip of soy, mirin, spring onion and chilli – the freshness of the fish really shone through here and again on our next plate, the brightly-coloured sea trout sashimi with tomato and red onion.
Next up were two hot dishes; whole prawns cooked in a spicy Szechuan seasoning, and a fillet of pollock, the juicy fish offset nicely by salsa verde and capers. Whatever your order you need to get the crispy potatoes as a side, plus our own little addition which we asked for – a pot of that garlic creme fraiche that came with the oysters. You won’t regret this.
Although we loved the charm of the original Prawn on the Lawn, even with all its limitations, the new incarnation is the restaurant it was meant to be. And we’re still big fans.
292 – 294 Saint Paul’s Road, London N1 2LH
prawnonthelawn.com