The Market, Camden, London

Working in an open kitchen at the back of a small dining room with bare brick walls and zinc-topped tables Dan Spencer and his business partner Denise Tang The Market Restaurant with great charm and efficiency.
The menu - it changes daily - was a long read coming out of so tight a kitchen.
From the nine first courses on the printed menu plus one on the blackboard my friends and I chose home-smoked Mackerel Paté with pickled cucumber, fried Cornish sprats with Tartare sauce and Red Mullet and Squid served on Bruschetta spread with a Broad Bean and Walnut purée.
This last dish was fabulous, a really excellent idea and a superb combination. The amiable willingness of the British to find culinary inspiration all over the place was exemplified in Coconut and Lemongrass soup, Beef short ribs with Soy and Ginger and Pig’s cheeks with Morcilla (Spanish black pudding) and Peas.
In the main course, English Pork the new-friend of British restaurants, Gloucester Old Spot pig, was tastefully served as a chop with Lentils and Apple sauce and was much appreciated. Chicken and Ham pie with greens was also exclaimed over.
I tasted the filling and the balance of Douce and the salt was just perfect. Salting mutton seems like a really cool idea. The mutton was rendered bacon-y but its accompanying bubble and squeak and caper sauce still suited.
The men with me could have indulged me and had the jam sponge pudding with custard or fig, Amaretti and grape must ice-cream but they both wanted meringue with pale pink rhubarb and pomegranate seeds-I still don’t know why. The wine at Market is priced around £35 (house wines are £13) and £25 for Founders Block Cabernet Sauvignon, Katnook, Coonawarra 2004 was money well spent and I will be back with some other friends for a special meal on some other celebratory whim.