A Little Of What You Fancy

Great food, but a forty-​minute wait for dinner and indifferent service meant this was overall a disappointing experience. For an evening bistro, it’s also way too expensive.
Two cocktails, two main courses, two sides and a demi-​carafe of house red came to £70. The portion sizes meant our meal could have easily fed three people. While generosity is wonderful and all that, I’d prefer it if they could just bring the price and portion size down to something more reasonable.
During our meal one of the kitchen staff kept popping in and out of the front door. Quite strange in that he kept making eye contact as he did so, and it isn’t good for appearances to have absent kitchen staff when the food service is slow. The sole front-​of-​house was happy to let a member of the public use the bathroom. Another couple had their order taken before us. My drink was almost taken away half-​finished. None of this should matter but the sum of it all points to (overpriced) amateur supper-​club rather than high-​end restaurant.
A shame, as I was really excited about ‘Fancy becoming a new go-​to dinner spot.

A little of what I used to like.
Until yesterday I thought of it as a charming but slightly overpriced neighbourhood restaurant with the usual hipster attitude of the area.
Last night my partner and I wanted to have a quick late dinner there. Came in sat down and ordered.
Not long after us another two customers arrived and a little while after them somebody who could be considered a minor (or major?) celebrity (made pretty good music in the 90s) with his son and friend or family.
After their arrival everybody else was simply ignored. Despite the fact that they arrived and ordered much later than us and the two other people they were attended to and served various courses before any of us got any more attention or our food. As a result something as simple as fried scallops on salad took a solid 45 minutes. And not even an attempt of an excuse or trying to make up for it.
I let the waitress know how I felt and tipped accordingly.
Sorry guys. The food isn’t that good to make such behaviour acceptable. It actually isn’t acceptable at all. Hope this musician and friends are very good customers as you have certainly lost my business

Simple, welcoming and delicious are the three words I would use to describe this adorable café/​restaurant in Dalston. Perfect for the occasion of girly catch ups on a Tuesday night. The wooden school chairs and small cute touches really add to the welcoming and fun vibe. Food was great, absolutely gutted I was too full for desert as they all sounded amazing. Perhaps round two?!

Amazing place for brunch and dinner, dedicated chef, and personel. You really really really need to try this one.

Super tasty! Great, varied brunch menu on a Saturday, really fresh stuff. We turned up at 11 and it was empty, and by 11:30 there was a wait. Certainly a lot of neighborhood hipsters in the house, but like us, they’re just here for the food.

Great hidden gem on Kingsland Road. Have been twice. Once for lunch and was pleasantly surprised how dog friendly they were. Had lamb chops and a salad. A little pricey but home cooked and good quality. Went again one evening for dinner with 2 friends. Delicious potato focaccia bread as a starter. All our main courses were well cooked and good size portions. The menu changes a lot based on seasonality. Nice crowd and comfortable noise levels. Lots of hipsters but not annoying. Have heard that celebs like Yoko Ono and Prince have eaten here. Highly recommended.

Great brunch spot! I’m def a fan of this place and will frequent. Spot is cozy and menu is nice and simple with fresh ingredients.

Just because places up the road makes lamb chops doesn’t mean you have to do them and do them worse. The same holds qtrue for noodles. went to this place when it had recently opened and thought it was alright. After having been back two more times, the last time two nights ago I must unfortunately say it was my last time.
Service was a disaster, kitchen was a mess, plates of food came out at the wrong time, no one was having cutlery, food got cold, drink orders were missed and never delivered, other orders had to be put in twice. The food itself? Don’t rememberno wait I do remember ordering ceviche and getting a bowl of beans with a piece of fish.

I was here yesterday for brunch and my friend and I had a great time we had some coffee, a slice of cake and a nice chat were enough to set a good mood for the day.

It has been alleged that I’ve been late for work so that I can enjoy a good early morning breakfast and coffee when it opens at 10am. I’m sure the owners wanted to open this place on my doorstep, which is fine by me. The food is scrumptious and atmosphere is very cool. ALOWYF is treat for locals or anyone visiting the area.

This little hole in the wall is easy to miss — it doesn’t even have a proper sign! In the evenings, you don’t have a chance of squeezing into this kitsch eatery if you don’t have a booking, so we settled for lunch on this occasion.
The menu was limited and the service was a little gruff, but the food was delicious. Stuffed squash with leeks, bacon, crème fraîche and goat’s cheese is a must, as is the beetroot salad! Casual ambience and a great place to come for a good natter, as although the tables are tightly squeezed together in the evenings, everyone is so engrossed in their own food and company, that you can relax and chat away.
Amazing that such a tiny little place has such a mammoth reputation — thoroughly deserved though!

this is a cute little spot. my friend lives right around the corner from here, and when i found it on Unilocal,i told her she should check it out. she came here for brunch first and raved about it, so i finally came as well.
i got the scrambled eggs w/​smoked salmon over toast, and the eggs were perrrfect. i love me some runny scrambled eggs, and these did not disappoint! she got the chorizo w/​poached eggs, and our other friend got bacon and eggs. everyone enjoyed their meals, which were actually pretty substantial. a woman sitting next to us had the cod, which looked amazing, so dinner is probably really good here as well.

Lovely interior; food ambitious and pricey.

This place was bumpin’! I came here on a saturday at 1 pm for brunch, hoping that the brunch rush would be over, but I was wrong. i was dead wrong. But luckily I got a table outside!
This meant that I could watch the crazy people in my neighborhood as they made their way home from Kingsland Waste market. That was enough entertainment in itself. But it also made for some awkward situations as crazy drunk people eyed my meal.
And they had PLENTY of reason to. it was delicious. Well spotted crazy drunk man, good eye.
I had some lovely israeli breakfast dish with some weird name that I can’t remember, but it was basically a fried egg on top of a warm vegetable marinara, served with hummus and crunchy bread. And Raul had egg with fresh salmon and he said that was really well done as well.
It’s a little more expensive than the rest of the places in Dalston, so it seems a bit out of place. ha. But the food and service make it totally worth it, so much that you would forget you are in Dalston (if you were sitting inside).

Had a fantastic dinner last night at A Little of What You Fancy — the most unlikely location, hidden away in between fast food takeouts and pound shops… with just a chalkboard outside to advertise their presence. Not that they seem to need much advertising — the place was jammed, so I was glad I’d booked. Inside — it was all very Dalston hip… concrete floor, shabby old school furniture etc — and a big pile of doubtless local, organic veg piled up by the bar. The bread (which slightly unfortunately arrived about 30 seconds before our main courses) was fantastic, and I must go back to the shop to buy a loaf of the fantastic rye.
The wait staff were really friendly despite my annoying questions about the menu — double checking about 4 times that there was no chilli in the gorgeous sweetcorn pancake with avocado and crème fraîche which I ordered (I’m super allergic to chilli.) I was very glad it was chilli free as it was so good I polished off the entire thing. My friend had a very glam looking whole dover sole with artichoke — the other non-​meat dish had run out by the time we arrived.
Desserts were delicious too — the flourless chocolate cake was almost pure mousse, just cooked enough to hold its shape, not too much to lose its amazing silky texture.
I’ll definitely go back, although the very short menu is something of a challenge to a fuss-​pot like me — I’m sure it’s good for me to get out of my usual risotto-​or-​fishcake habit!

I really enjoyed my dinner here a couple of months ago. Being a vegan it’s not always easy to find a flexible restuarant, but the chef was very much up for making a vegan creation. The food was very tasty and fresh and the wine was delicious. Everyone, enjoyed their meal. The ambiance was bustling and relaxed, which is exactly what you would expect from the area. Will be going there again!

Just had a delicious dinner with my friend — it’s hidden away on a dingy stretch of Kingsland Road, blink and you’d miss it — but clearly has a loyal following as it was totally packed out, with more people coming in to fill tables which emptied at 9.30 or so. Inside it’s very Dalston-​shabby chic — concrete floors, school chairs, scruffy wooden tables — but seemed very comfortable and friendly.
I asked for some bread — 2 really delicious chunks of rye and a sort of sourdough arrived, unfortunately about 30 seconds before our food, so we didn’t really do it justice. Typically, the main course I’d decided on — a smoked mackerel and roasted fennel salad — had run out, so after several no doubt very annoying questions to the very laid back waiter, I chose the vegetarian main course — a sweetcorn fritter with avocado and tomato salsa. I was a bit uncertain about the salsa so asked for some crème fraîche on the side instead, which was lovely with the creamy avocado on top of the fritter, the whole ensemble satisfyingly thick, and soft in the middle. My friend had a whole roasted sole with artichoke, which was a fiddle to eat but she enjoyed it a lot. The menu was fairly short — about 3 or four choices for each course, and it forced me out of my usual risotto-​or-​fishcake habit: their dishes were far more eclectic than that. Puddings were fabulous — I loved the just-​cooked-​mousse like flourless chocolate cake, while my friend had a vast chunk of lemon syrup sponge with a lemon icecream. I’m already planning a return visit, perhaps to try the brunch menu — based on the sweetcorn fritter, I’m betting their pancakes are bound to be good.

A Little of what you fancy is a cute little café with enough seating for around 50 people in, what looks from the outside, to be an abandoned shop. As is customary these days around these parts, the name of the place is not shouted out from above the door for all who walk past to see, but is scrawled in chalk on a blackboard propped up on the pavement in front. Why the cool kids of Dalston don’t go to venues with signs is a mystery to me? So make a note of the address and watch out for that blackboard if you’re trying to find this place.
I came here for breakfast but they do serve dinner as well. My bacon sandwich was very tasty, on delicious bread with homemade ketchup and loads of salad leaves thrown in. The rest of the breakfast menu consists of bread+eggs+other ingredient, I’m not a fan of eggs (or coffee — why do I even bother with eating out for breakfast you may ask) so the menu was a bit limited for me. They have juices but no smoothies or anything, it’s not one of those places.
There were two people waiting and they seemed rushed off their feet. This place is popular but not to the point where you have to queue to get a table so give it a go if you’re in the area and I’m sure you’ll be as pleasantly surprised as I was to find such a nice place among the charity shops of Kingsland road.

OK, I went for dinner. It was amazing… great wine, great food, great big drunken roll home.
I love this place.

Almost hidden by a nondescript shop front A Little Of What You Fancy is a breath of fresh air on Kingsland Road. Promising locally sourced food in an area populated mainly by fast food joints, I rushed in excited to grab something different from my usual lunchtime fare, and was excited to see whitewashed walls, wooden tables, and an enormous blackboard covered in an immaculately written wine menu on the back wall.
Tempting though it was to stay for a full lunch I had to grab something and run so opted for a sandwich and a slice of cake. At £8 for the two it was going to have be a lot better than Faulkner’s chipshop!
The sandwich was perfect, crisp lovely rocket, crumbly mature cheddar, and lovely chewy brown sourdough style bread, topped off by some lovely sweet tomato cheddar. As I sat at my desk and wolfed it down I was in heaven. My apple, cardamom, sultana and I forget what else cake was generously cut and wonderfully thick and stodgy if a little bland.
The clientele were a mixed bunch: a few families with small children, an older couple eating brunch, and others with laptops out drinking coffee. It was nice to see such a mixed bunch inside, and the staff were as sunny and full of smiles as the customers.
Slight blandness aside I was so thrilled to be eating something that tasted so fresh and un-​chemical that I can totally overlook it and give the place a stellar recommendation. Next time I plan to go back and give the place a proper chance by sitting in, eating a slap up meal, and hopefully quaffing some of the wines on that adorable blackboard!