Charles Campion dines at Stream

10 April 2012

This review was first published in August 2000

Not so very long ago, 50 Long Lane was occupied by a relentlessly gimmicky and modernist bar called Can. The premise was that you stood in the bar, ordered a drink that was served in the Can, and then when you had finished you could pop your tin into a vast machine which transported it off for crushing and recycling. Perhaps the concept of concentrating on tinnies was flawed, or maybe punters didn't enjoy the idea of drinking in the bowels of a vast machine, but the business never took off properly. Time for a re-think. Someone somewhere probably went through a laborious thought process along the lines of: city-slickers - champagne - seafood. Aha, they ruminated, how about opening a bar that sells drinks, cocktails, champagne, oysters, lobsters, crabs and fish dishes. And so Stream, subtitled Bubble And Shell, took shape. It's a pleasant, open, modern, clean bar, with the dining tables arranged along each side and the restaurant part of the operation obviously designed to play second fiddle to the bar sales. The food is simple, and the menu interesting. Starters range from a tomato galette, through grilled squid and polenta, to lobster salad served with grain mustard, new potato salad and that classic, risotto nero. The latter is one of those dishes that is so easy to do badly and so hard to do well. At Stream the risotto nero comes with a few squid rings on top, it is well-flavoured and the overall texture of the dish is good. Then the menu leads you on to 'large plates' - main courses to you and I - summer risotto with broad beans, courgette flower and asparagus, seared tuna with a pearl barley salsa, fillet of beef with grilled fennel, courgettes and cherry tomatoes, and stuffed whole bream served with a black-olive salad. Portion size is good and the fish is accurately cooked. There are also a couple of daily specials on the blackboard, which tend to be classics like half a small lobster, a ribeye steak and chips - good chips. Then, almost as an afterthought there is the seafood menu - Irish rock oysters (which are often a little too milky for some tastes until later in September) are well presented. Large prawns, langoustines, Cornish crabs, and lobsters all appeal, and they come in a wide range of combinations and platters. The lobsters are on the small side and look very like the ones that are imported by the thousand from Canada. Very sweet, but not in the same league as the slightly larger lobsters from British (particularly Scottish and Irish) waters. The service at Stream is taking its time to get 'into the groove', but you must applaud the simple menu, and the occasional special offer, that teams six Irish rock oysters with a cold bottle of 'draft' Guinness, is very welcome. Stream will probably survive a little longer than its predecessor.

Stream (Bubble and Shell)
50-52 Long Lane, EC1

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