• World food• Angel
While chef and restaurateur Jacob Kenedy is perhaps better known for his Italian restaurant Bocca di Lupo, run with business partner Victor Hugo, Plaquemine Lock takes inspiration from Southern American heritage.
The menu might suggest otherwise, but in spirit, Plaquemine Lock is an English boozer. It's set a few metres from the banks of the Regent's Canal in leafy Islington, with an unfussy dining room that's perfect for a few drinks or dinner.
The food here is inspired by Louisiana's Creole and Cajun food and the surrounding states, with classic regional staples like jambalaya and gumbo alongside snacks like devilled eggs and oysters rockefeller. If you're stopping by for lunch, a New Orleans-style po'boy sandwich is always a good idea alongside a pint or two of London craft beer.
Stepping inside the new Plaquemine Lock feels like walking into a kitschy theme pub, and there are po’boys and seafood gumbo on the menu.
Jacob Kenedy has written a love letter to Cajun and Creole cookery from a pub in Islington
Almost best of all is strawberry and cream pie made Ponchatoula (“strawberry capital of the world”) style set in Jell-O and topped with aerosol cream.
Chevys, levées and the shellfish gene
Pull up a seat y'all and stick a bib on because things are about to get real messy.
They’ve essentially managed to create a ‘greatest hits’ of New Orleanian cuisine here, packing in everything you’d want on your NOLA menu bucket list: starters include crawfish pies & and smoked pork boudin sausages. Hearty Po’ Boy sandwiches follow, stuffed with fried shrimp, crawfish, oysters & bacon, slow-roost beef & debris (gravy), and more.