Cloudstreet

Well, isn’t Cloudstreet a cutie pie. We’ve always had a soft spot for this tatty Victorian courtyard; a Steptoe and Son-worthy stables in Stoke Newington that’s ditched the ponies for excellent one-man micropub Macintosh Ales, mullet specialists Cut & Run salon and a gaggle of artists’ studios.

Cloudstreet quietly opened at the tailend of summer, headed up by chefs Georgia Lahiff and Frank Guest. The pair met while working at acclaimed Sydney restaurant 10 William Street, with Georgia then cooking in Rome and Frank doing stints at the now shuttered Lyle’s as well as Sune in London Fields. They also recently hosted pop-ups at Giacco’s in Finsbury Park and Ancestral Wines in Forest Hill, where they replicated a casual Italian tavola calda cafeteria. 

Brilliantly, Cloudstreet doesn't feel like anything they’ve ever done before. Despite being surrounded by the shady palimpsest of historical British livery and the whimsical moniker (a tribute to the much-loved Australian novel of the same name) Cloudstreet seems as if you’ve stumbled across a small bistro in a medieval village in the south of France. Like some kind of hospitality Brigadoon, which only makes itself known once every 100 years, Cloudstreet leaves you wondering if you ever really ate that monumental onion tart or merely hallucinated its presence. 

On a sunny day, it could be mistaken for Aix-en-Provence 

The restaurant (and kitchen) is sequestered into a brick-lined tiny stable with flaking paint on the walls and hastily erected shelves. Inside the space, only a couple of metres wide, is, somehow, a prep bench, oven, booze supplies, and a shared country cottage dining table with a bench for eight-ish. More are sat outside on the cobblestones at tables accessorised with vintage Pernod ashtrays and fresh-cut flowers. On a sunny day, it could be mistaken for Aix-en-Provence were it not for the hum of Lime bikes buzzing up and down Bouverie Road. 

Rather than small plates, Cloudstreet’s menu is just simply small. Dishes are simple and few and far between, but there’s heart and soul and the freshest of produce in every one. The six daily-changing options (including a dessert and cheese course) are scrawled on a chalkboard which Frank diligently presents to each and every table. On a Thursday lunchtime food is rustic without being slapdash. We start with a fist-sized offering of pleasantly chunky pate which comes alongside slinky, marinated strips of red pepper, cucumbers so fresh it’s as if they’ve just been pulled from between the cobbles and just-sliced wedges of baguette.

We skip the tomato soup, on account of my lifelong aversion to ordering soup in a restaurant, but I quickly regret it when the couple next to us are served a deep, intoxicating bowl of the stuff which gleams like a freshly detailed Ferrari. Instead we opt for a serviceable potato galette which is a little too heavy on the pastry, but definitely comes over net positive thanks to gracefully layered spuds and an enlivening courgette and sheep’s cheese salad. But the undeniable dish of the day is a fleshy pork tonnato with a honking, hearty sauce and a lightly pickled pile of green beans. At once rich and light but also a little bit sordid, it looks like something you’d give a standing ovation to if it was placed in front of you at St John. 

Of course, you can’t book at Cloudstreet, and by 1.30pm there’s a patient gaggle awaiting tables. Alas, they’ll have to wait a little longer, as we’re not leaving until we’ve had a simple but spot-on finisher of fresh figs with just-sweet-enough wine-laced zabaglione custard. 

God knows what will happen when the weather turns and the outdoor tables are no longer the hottest seats in town, but at the moment there’s nowhere in London we’d rather eat than at Cloudstreet.  

The vibe A rustic restaurant in a Victorian stables in Stoke Newington. 

The food Lots of fresh produce and a small but impressive Italian-leaning menu. 

The drink Wine by the glass or carafe. 

Time Out tip You can’t book a table online and most of the space is saved for walk-ins, but if you swing by in person they’ll let you reserve a table.