Blueberries - Hackney

4:14pm Wednesday 18th June 2008

LIVING just 15 minutes walk away from what locals amusingly call "Viccy Village" could not prepare me for the experience of visiting there.

One minute you are in normal Hackney, with high rises and chicken shops, then you turn a corner and suddenly it's wall-to-wall restaurants and estate agents.

In this environment Blueberries, a small bistro-style restaurant, thrives and if we hadn't have arrived an hour before closing, we would not have got a table.

The staff are super-friendly and it has a relaxed atmosphere with an obvious base of regular clientele.

This is just as well, because it is probably not worth travelling to.

This is not to say the food is bad, it is just, well, unimaginative. Our choices, king prawns wrapped in pastry with chinese sweet chilli sauce, steak, home-made chips and mixed salad leaves and duck breast in hoi sin sauce, mange tout and potatoes was hearty and very tasty.

The chips were just right, crispy and fluffy at the same time and the steak was cooked to my specification, something which it is always possible to mess up.

We suspected the sauce over the duck, which was less canard than teradactyl it was so big, came out of a packet and it covered up slightly bland meat.

But generally dining at Blueberries was a delight, they served up a satisfying feast with a smile and it might just be worth the journey for their dreamy, creamy strawberry fool made with fresh fruit.

Blueberries' special offer of three courses plus coffee for £15, made this good value too. Expect to be pleasantly surprised if not wowed.

BLUEBERRIES
87 Lauriston Road,
Victoria Park Village,
Hackney,
E9 7HJ

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