Mishkin’s, Covent Garden

LawrenceofArb and I wanted to grab lunch – the kind of lunch where you can talk loudly, have a quick drink – and shoot the breeze.  None of my usual haunts then.   As I was coming straight from a meeting at No. 1 Aldwych, LoA suggested Mishkin’s, the latest offering from Russell Norman and the Polpo team.  Mishkin’s serves (non-kosher) Jewish deli food and also cocktails – a perfect choice.

The room is bare-bricked, with banquette’s, kitsch fittings, and Norman’s trademark horseshoe bar where you can grab food, or have a drink while you wait.  Now getting a table at Mishkin’s is actually somewhat more complicated though – I was of course late – and poor LoA spent some time trying to organise a table.  By the time I finally arrived, the queue was out of the door and the staff were turning business away.  We made a reservation for 1:45 and retreated next door to the Opera Tavern for a quick catchup.  Returning a little later, we were quickly shown to a table, and given glasses of tap water and the menu.

Ultimately LoA chose the Reuben, and I had a pastrami with salad.  I ordered some sauerkraut and onion rings as a side.  Going with the flow we also both chose a cocktail: I had the Cucumber Martini and Lawence The Last Word.  Now I should have paid a little more attention to that list, as my cucumber martini was actually just Hendricks gin (which is flavoured with cucumber), with a garnish of a long wound strip of cucumber balanced inside the old fashioned glass.  The first taste was of pure alcohol, but as it sat there for some time, the cucumber did soften the flavour somewhat (or the Hendricks worked its magic on my tastebuds).  The Last Word on the other hand contained gin, lime, green chartreuse and maraschino liqueur.  It tasted amazing, with a very tiny herby/spicy kick in it that we couldn’t quite identify – presumably from the chartreuse.

Our sandwiches arrived very promptly too – my pastrami had an amazing nutmeg kick – the cure on the outside of the meat transported me right back to Germany, and I found myself in the second conversation of the day on German lebkuchen*, with their spicy warm gingerbread flavour.  This added enormously to the sandwich.  There were sliced dill pickles to the side which were crisp and tangy.  Lawrence’s Reuben went down well too and was soon finished off.

I love Mishkin’s – it’s loud, it’s packed and every time a dish goes past you you wonder what that amazing scent is.  The staff were very attentive and very friendly – having seen that I drink water like a fish, one young chap made a point of topping me up frequently.  The entire bill came to £40 – perhaps some will consider £10 a sandwich expensive, but these were sandwiches I’d cross town for.  If you know what a good pastrami sandwich is, you’ll know the price of nostalgia.  My only recommendation would be to book your table – it’s a very vibrant, happy and popular haunt, and I can’t see it quietening down any time soon.