Shady mugs at Black Axe Mangal

Dear readers, please excuse me. For years Identità Golose has taught me to eat in lovely places, where good food also implied an attentive and polite service; in which the taste of the chef could be appreciated not only in the food but also in the furniture. What do I mean? Am I about to recommend a place you should avoid, with badly mannered waiters and imperfect food? Of course not. In fact, the contrary: Black Axe Mangal is, in 2016, my favourite restaurant in London; but with terms. If you visit, leave your formal attire at home and be ready to have fun without thinking that you’re dining at a restaurant.

In this small place on the Highbury & Islington roundabout, the music is metal and it’s so loud you can hear it from the street; the dining room is decorated with florescent colours and skateboards; in the open view kitchen a stone oven stands out, with silkscreen images of the Kiss. Should these small details be enough not to visit B.A.M., it would be an unforgivable mistake, because Lee Tiernan has created something incredible. Lee made himself known in London by working for many years as head chef at St. John Bread & Wine in Spiltafield, on Commercial Street. When he left, everyone expected him to open a new place, but nobody would imagine what this anarchic creative chef had in mind.

During Gelinaz, last 10th November, Simone Tondo, chef at restaurant Tondo in Paris, came to cook as surprise guest at B.A.M. and he was impressed. It’s hard to find a place with such contagious energy. This restaurant’s creative power is expressed almost as a game: waiters wear t-shirts with photos of rock idols from the Eighties; cocktails, made in collaboration with Ryan Chetiyawardana of White Lyan, one of the best bartenders in town, are decorated with umbrellas and straws full of sequins. The food, however, is extremely serious. Pitas are leavened for 24 hours before being baked right before serving them, resulting in extremely fragrant soft pillows. You’ll always find 4 or 5 types in the menu but the already enduring recipes include lamb entrails, but most of all Squid ink bread, served with smoked cod roe and egg yolk.

Lee is a master of fermentation. Bread is just one example. The recipes served at B.A.M. all have a component that wakes up the palate. Unusual flavours, inspired by cultures from all around the world, from the Middle to the Far East. It is with these sour flavours that Lee contrasts the powerful taste of the fire. Fire and fermentations make this a unique place, where everyone should come at least once to understand how food can acquire illogical shape even without the use of sophisticated equipment.

The Burnt and glazed cabbage with prawn butter is one of Lee’s dishes that cannot be taken off the menu. The caramelised sweetness of the cabbage is balanced by the sweet sapidity of the prawns. The result is a craveable dish, of which you’ll have to order another portion.

The delicateness of the quail is balanced by the mix of spices that’s typical of B.A.M. the mission Chinese spice, a mix of Sichuan pepper and other berries that daze the palate. There’s little harm if for once you won’t wear a shirt. If, on the other hand, there’s no way you can tolerate metal, the restaurant is open for brunch at the weekend from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the playlist is much more melodic. What’s important is that you come. The flavours are so delicious it’s likely you’ll forget everything else and let yourself succumb to the enthusiasm.

See also
Black Axe Mangal on the Identità Guide