LDNReview
Molly's Cafe
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Restaurants can conjure all kinds of emotions in people. These emotions include (and are not limited to): ecstasy, despair, amazement, melancholy, confusion, fury, intrigue and, when Peking duck is on the menu, faint arousal. Molly’s Café is all about comfort though. It’s a café in Hoxton where lots of other people - family people, hungover people, solitary people, romantic people, sultry people - are sitting and smiling and enjoying a slice of quiche in a scene of total, blissful contentment.
Molly’s is connected to the Museum of the Home. So, via osmosis - plus other things like fluffy crisp chips, scoops of homemade raspberry ripple ice cream and lovely affable service - it feels homely. Providing you grew up above the Anchor & Hope (the parent of Molly’s restaurant family), that is. The space - a white and airy canteen-ish room of semi-impermanence - isn’t exactly homely, but the outside patio makes up for it. And so does the menu. Butter-bathing potted shrimp and caesar salads that are 80% parmesan. Decadent chocolate ice cream sandwiches and mousse too. Nothing fancy, no faff. It’s all simple stuff. But done well, it’s the stuff that tastes so much better when served to you. Like a faultless steak haché with peppercorn sauce versus anything fancier. Only a pervert would ever say they seek solace in food that’s been sous vide. Sorry, but that just isn’t comfort.
Making this all-encompassing feeling happen is easier said than done, but Molly’s Cafe has made it feel effortless. Part of this is down to the fact it’s an all-day affair. As good for a bacon sandwich as it is for a mid-afternoon negroni, a luminous lunchtime plate of beetroot and goat’s curd or a ham and comté croque for the kids. It’s canteen-like in the best possible way. A casual place for a second or seven hundredth date, as much as it is for solo sandwich goers. It should be no surprise that Molly’s comes from a family of peerless pubs and restaurants. Because, inside or outside, you’re going to be very comfortable here.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Food Rundown
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Onion and Parmesan Tart
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Potted Shrimps, Toast and Cucumber Salad
Beetroot, Goat’s Curd and Olive Crumbs
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Steak Hache, Green Peppercorn Sauce and Chips
Fruit, Whipped Cream and Meringue
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch