Medcalf Traiteur - bar review

A cosy, rustic wine bar that's a neat place for a few drinks before dinner on Exmouth Market, says Kate Lough
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Kate Lough18 February 2015

What they say: Exmouth Market gets its first lunchtime deli-cum-evening wine bar at Medcalf's new 'traiteur', which takes its name from 17th Century France's casual food and wine establishments that laid the foundations for modern restaurants.

What we say: The people at Medcalf want you to feel as if you're peering through a warm farmhouse window, with cookbooks, copper pans and flickering candlelight. On busier days (we visited on a quiet Tuesday) I imagine this rustic cosiness is exactly what they achieve. You can pick and choose from its very decent wine list, well-made cocktails and wooden boards of charcuterie and cheese.

On the menu: a British charcuterie board

Order: We tweaked the Saffron & Thyme Collins — ditching the soda to make it into a quasi sour — with delicious, herbalicious results. If you like a bit of a kick with your cocktail, the Hardly Rita combines Chase's smoked vodka with 'It' spirit Kamm & Sons, lime, chilli and agave syrup. Otherwise check whether there are any wines by the glass on offer that are normally only by the bottle — we drank an earthy 2012 Bolgheri Rossi.

Rustic cosiness: Medcalf Traiteur's bar

Good for: Pre-dinner drinks — you're spoilt for choice on Exmouth Market with Medcalf's own restaurant next door, Moro, Bonnie Gull and Caravan.

By the way: You can order the restaurant's full dinner menu in the bar too — artichoke gnocchi, shorthorn onglet and rabbit ragu are the kind of dishes you can expect.

Find it: 38 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QE; medcalfbar.co.uk

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