Jones&Sons at Trip Kitchen

Haggerston: the No Man's Land between Shoreditch and Stoke Newington. More of a 'passing through' kind of place than a real destination, it's being snapped up by property developers as the next area to throw up luxury flats. The real charm though is under the railway arches and next to the canal. Tonkotsu East's cottoned on to this and it seems as if Jones&Sons have now too.

This is Jones&Sons' second outpost - the first being up the road in Dalston - and they've taken up residency in Trip Space, a cultural hangout where you can yoga one minute and hot desk the next. Ella, Ashley and I were invited down to check it out last week and were promised great British food in a contemporary setting.

We weren't disappointed. Initial impressions were welcoming - warm light glows from the glass frontage showcasing the exposed brickwork and bustling bar within - second impressions were slightly less so as it took quite a while for us to be acknowledged but we'll be generous and put it down to opening jitters.

Onto the food and drink. There's a nice selection of draught and bottled beer (although Ashley chose Estrella) but being a girl, I headed straight for the cocktail menu and went for an easy choice of the Joan Collins - a zesty combination of gin, elderflower, lemon and fizz, a sharp but sweet boozy lemonade. Ella went for something involving egg white - I realise that's a pretty exhaustive list of potential options but for someone who's previously steered clear of any with it in, I wasn't paying much attention. Having said that, it won me over. Success.

Then it was onto the food. Jones&Sons have forgone every date night dilemma of not choosing the most expensive dish on the menu by standardising the pricing - starters are all £7, mains £11, sides are 2 for £7. And desserts? Who cares how much they cost. We were spoilt for choice and could practically have eaten one of everything on offer but waistlines and professionalism considered, we decided to swap and share.

First up, my salmon tartare. Served with nice crisp toasts (more please though), the perfectly diced fish was achingly good. Clean flavours were complemented by dill and capers, and the slided cucumber haphazardly presented on top added a good bit of crunch. Ashley had the battered courgette flower with goats curd and tomato - I'm a total fiend for goats cheese and the classic combination of textures on the plate were pulled off well with the tart tomatoes cutting through the smooth, salty curd and the crisp batter. My only gripe would be that £7 seems a little steep for just one stem. Ella's grilled squid with morcilla and parsley crumb was stand out though; the tender seafood griddled rather than deep fried to maintain a nice bounce whilst the meaty sausage crumb added another level of flavour. This I'd order again. And again.

Onto the mains. Ashley and I both had the Butcher's steak with Bearnaise. More commonly known as 'Hanger steak', it's from the diaphragm of the cow and one of those cuts that are having a resurgence in popularity. I like my steaks so rare it's almost still mooing, this was cooked to perfection and served with the moreish Bearnaise for dipping. Ella went for the lamb belly with lentils and beetroot (and I failed to get a snap) but she declared it a masterpiece so further props right here. Beefing up our mains, we shared two sides between us - the mac and cheese, obviously (not bad), and the kale (underseasoned and a bit soggy) - and discussed whether the standardised pricing works for mains or not.

Of course, we had to continue with little needed but much wanted desserts - I went for the treacle tart with clotted cream and Ash and Ella went for the sticky toffee pudding with ice cream. Nicely executed, if widely varying in portion control, but I probably would have gone for something chocolatey or fruity given the opportunity seeing as I could now practically roll myself out of the restaurant.

Jones&Sons is a great little place that's unassuming, friendly and open all day so you can start and finish the day (in a food coma) in one laidback location. The staff are really friendly, if a little rushed off their feet when busy, but always on hand to persuade you that yes, you really do need that last bite of saccharine sweetness. Four out of five from me.

Tonkotsu East

I used to walk past Tonkotsu in Soho every day on the way to and from work, watching the bubbling vats of broth in the window and people queueing to sup and slurp on the noodles from beautiful black bowls. I never made it there as Koya always steals the prize for best ramen in Central, but catching up with H meant we decided to give its East outpost in Haggerston a try.

Tucked under the railway arches, this is a busy little place. An open bar kitchen along one side is lined with bottles and bowls, steaming and spitting over the stoves, whilst the back of the restaurant makes a feature of their prized noodle machine. We were shown to a tiny table tucked away at the back and threw ourselves into ordering almost straight away.

Ramen was a given so we decided to share the Tokyo - pork and chicken stock with medium thick noodles, mirin and soy pork belly with the classic soft-boiled egg and menma (bamboo shoots). This came out last, thankfully, as we'd also decided to order some sides to tuck into first that meant we could catch up without splashing the broth all over ourselves (or myself, as it turned out). The noodles had a great firm bite and the pork belly was melt in the mouth good; the only gripe I'd have would be the broth itself. I eat a lot of Vietnamese pho which is packed full of flavours, herbs and spices and is a world ahead in terms of depth of flavour so I felt the broth here was a little lacking and underwhelming, but of course Japanese and Vietnamese cooking are very different from one another.

But broth aside, onto the rest: we chose the prawn gyoza first (which came out last) and loved the perfectly cooked dumplings that split open to reveal the really moreish filling that cried out for its soy accompaniment, then the crab korroke which is described as a Japanese version of a crab croquette (read: crabcake) with homemade tartar sauce. Nicely seasoned and with three huge balls, this was a perfect little serving. Next up, the yellow tail sashimi with jalapeno and yuzo ponzo sauce and I have to admit, this may be the best yellow tail I've had with the expertly thin slices and the bite from the accompanying pickled veg that added that little bit extra. Last up was the salt and sansho pepper squid (always one to order) with lightly fried proper squid (no shop bought rings here) in a tangy lemon batter that could have benefited from something to dip on the side but no great loss nevertheless.

Drinks were pints of kirin ichiban, naturally, and dessert was the creme brulee. Decidedly unJapanese but the note on the menu admits they're bored of green tea ice cream so I applaud them for not taking themselves too seriously at all and I do love a good creme brulee. Our waitress was really friendly and apologetic when explaining a bit of a kitchen backlog and the wait between dishes wasn't too onerous anyway so more than happy to concede to a popular kitchen. Would I be back? For the ramen, maybe not but for the sides, yes. Four out of five.