From Brixton to Borough Yards, here are the best things the CODE team ate this week

Junsei

Junsei is all about authentic Yakitori in the heart of Marylebone. It’s the savoury smell that hits you when you enter the minimalist dining room – it makes you hungry for what’s to come. We went for the omakase menu, which is served at the counter – it’s a greatest hits of their menu with added off-piste dishes. “How are you with organs,” the chef asks. We started with griddled padron peppers and chicken thigh, before moving onto cuts I’m much less familiar with, such as chicken tail and hatsumoto – the artery which connects the heart to the lungs. It was good.
`Henry Southan, social media manager
CODE was a guest of Junsei

Potter & Reid

Cafe’s have been making an elegant ripple through London, each in their way stylish and suitably rustic, with crockery and decoration to match. Potter & Reid manages to capture an honesty in its set up that is hard to find elsewhere. This intimate and unexpected Spitalfields cafe belongs to a community neighbourhood, and the eponymous owners Potter & Reid are always on the floor chatting easily to all and serving the menu’s hearthy food. It might not be the food of everyone’s childhood, but the scents and flavours are evocations of homely memories — like eating at grandparents’ houses or hot meals early after school. The succulent chicken with aioli was a homage to Sundays, and the brothy environs of the plate were the smells of soup on the hob. Even the toasties are a cry out for a trek to the country pub. Potter & Reid feels very special.
Céire Carey, operations associate
CODE was a guest of Potter & Reid

KERB Counter x From the Ashes BBQ

An early lunch found me at the KERB Counter in Shoreditch enjoying the latest residency at the new bar and test kitchen on Rivington Street. Menu highlights included the short rib barbacoa, which fell off the bone. The crispy aubergine taco was also a highlight. Don’t forget to wash these down with their very reasonably priced mezcal cocktails. And look out for their next residency from HAUSmate, a spin-off of KERB favourite steakHAUS.
Henry Southan, social media manager
CODE was a guest of KERB Counter

Brother Marcus

We were invited to try the new opening in Borough Yards from our friends at Brother Marcus – tucked just around the corner from Neal’s Yard on Park St. We enjoyed a selection of their moorish ‘rips and dips’ (black garlic hummus went in a blink) followed by a selection of mezze. Our favourites were the kataifi lamb croquettes, and king prawns in Aleppo garlic butter.
Sam Selwood, accounts manager
CODE was a guest of Brother Marcus
Brother Marcus is available on the CODE app

Maremma

This week, a glorious neighbourhood Italian in Brixton was on the agenda. Of the many delicious dishes, the standout was this lighter-than-air pumpkin sformato served with a truffle cream, spinach and truffle shavings. Standing slightly firmer than a traditional souffle, the sweet, earthy pumpkin held court with truffle in an autumnal medley (I know, it’s spring…) designed to soothe the soul and lift the spirits. Only a handful of ingredients went into creating it but the dish epitomises why neighbourhood restaurants are so beautiful: take few ingredients, treat them with love, then serve.
Mike Daw, accounts manager

Native at Brown’s, Mayfair

I finally got round to visiting the new (well, hardly any more) Native iteration. Ivan, Imogen and team are now at Brown’s in Mayfair. They are still putting out progressive and thoughtful food. Fish ends on ‘yesterday’s toast’ were topped with crunchy linseeds, and proved to be a resourceful beginning to a menu of imagination: the brown crab speltsotto was a choir of umami, while the ling, from Devon, bounced on top of parsnip purée and house-made venison ‘nduja. Go, go, go.
Josh Barrie, editor

Read more reviews from the CODE team here