The Shaston Arms, London W1: ‘just Because You Can Do Things Doesn’t Mean You Should Do Them’ – Restaurant Review | Grace Dent On Restaurants

While perched wrong what felt for illustration a repurposed bookshelf astatine nan draughty backmost extremity of the Shaston Arms, sitting adjacent to nan dumb waiter and waiting for nan ping to herald nan presence of my £16 sheet of reddish mullet pinch squid ink rice, I had clip to see yet again nan alleged “pub revival” successful cool modern hospitality. Old boozers are reclaimed, reloved and restored, and nan awesome contented of going down nan pub is celebrated. The Devonshire successful adjacent Piccadilly is, of course, nan daddy, nan Darth Vader of this trend, winning plaudits, TikTok adoration and personage fans aplenty. So it’s nary wonderment that myriad different hospitality operators person formed an oculus complete their section neglected fleapit and thought: “Let’s bargain immoderate Mr Sheen, springiness that aged hovel a polish and commencement serving duck à l’orange and flourless cocoa tart. It’s each nan rage! Gen Z loves it!”

‘Very delicate’: nan Shaston Arms’ scallop-topped mash pinch curry leaves.

Whether Gen Z really does emotion thing astir nan pub acquisition arsenic it was successful nan 20th period is debatable, however, because wrong these poshed-up spit-and-sawdust boozers, each nan slimy and fag ash has gone – arsenic person nan dartboards, excavation tables, punch-ups, topless women connected KP peanut pub cards and nan ever-present bar-fly alcoholic drinking himself yellowish while droning connected astir his marital problems. “It’s a pub conscionable for illustration pubs utilized to be,” proclaim galore of these places, of which nan Shaston adjacent Carnaby Street is simply a awesome example. But those aged pubs had jukeboxes blaring problematic ballads by Tom Jones, and a snug barroom pinch a shag tartan carpet wherever nan womenfolk could nestle pinch their solid of Dubonnet because we weren’t rather invited successful nan saloon bar, and particularly not if we asked for a pint.

The Shaston is simply a pleasantly sterile, heavy Gen Z-friendly experience: a polished room pinch immoderate strategically placed rock’n’roll art, a fewer beers pinch weird names connected pat and, of course, a paper offering fennel and escarole caponata pinch hazelnuts and caramel flan pinch miyagawa. The paper is imaginative and, successful its bowls of beef-fat bulb rings pinch smoked cod’s roe, merguez baguettes and mashed murphy topped pinch scallop, makes nan overseas wry motion towards old-school pub comfortableness food. But location are besides flights of finesse pinch nan likes of delica squash pinch fontina and walnut salsa rosso, and immoderate very salty bigoli pinch chanterelles and pecorino.

‘A wry motion to old-school pub comfortableness food’: nan Shaston Arms’ merguez baguette.

Some of nan cooking is very delicate, excessively – that creamy mash pinch a lightly spiced scallop and curry leaves, for illustration – but elsewhere it is simply heavy-handed. Do whopping awesome and not peculiarly crunchy bulb rings really request heavy smoked food roe arsenic an accompaniment? In fairness, nan sheet was whisked distant earlier I’d vanished them, truthful they saved maine nan problem of solving that peculiar conundrum. And does a caramel tart request an overdose of salted almonds and immoderate very bitter citrus fruit? Just because you tin do these things doesn’t mean you should do them.

The biggest rumor pinch nan cooking here, though, is that nan Shaston Arms is very keen to beryllium an old-school boozer astatine nan aforesaid clip arsenic being a cool edifice that serves nutrient astatine premium prices. Service-wise, however, successful nan edifice astatine least, location was small aliases nary hospitality astatine all, because they’ve seemingly not employed a azygous personnel of unit who is capable to supply immoderate of nan modular niceties of a restaurant’s beforehand of house, specified arsenic checking if a customer wants different drink, changing cutlery aliases broadside plates betwixt courses, asking if everything is OK, making oculus contact, explaining what nan dishes are aliases moreover noticing erstwhile a passing bartender says loudly, “God, it’s acold successful nan edifice bit, isn’t it?” Meanwhile, nan diners – ie, maine – beryllium pinch chattering teeth adjacent to a ringing reservations telephone and personification cutting bread, which incidentally is £4.50 a popular for a minuscule magnitude of baguette pinch nondescript, fridge-cold butter.

The Shaston Arms’ reddish mullet pinch squid and achromatic rice: ‘Does Gen Z really emotion thing astir nan 20th-century pub experience?’

And each this costs £144 – of which, laughably, £16 was added connected for work – that I could person amended spent connected respective visits to Wagamama. The logic nan Devonshire is truthful celebrated for doing an apparently “easy” point is because nan creation betwixt spit-and-sawdust and “We’re really recreating the Sportsman astatine Seasalter” is simply a precarious 1 that requires a 1000 tricky pirouettes, arsenic good arsenic plentifulness of well-trained unit and a eating room distant from nan existent pub rabble. It takes a batch of effort and disbursal to look that thrown together. Without it, you’re conscionable charging £4.50 for unsalted chips successful an unheated lean-to and not checking if anyone wants salt, condiment aliases vinegar, aliases moreover noticing erstwhile your customers get up to leave. They waste crisps astatine Wetherspoons, truthful I deliberation I’ll effort there.

• The Shaston Arms 4-6 Ganton Street, London W1, 020-3757 5774. Open luncheon Tues-Sat, noon-2.30pm, Sun noon-4.30pm; meal Mon-Sat, 5.30-9.30 pm. From £35-£40 a caput for 3 courses, positive drinks & service