I’d been wanting to try this Bistro in Crookes for ages, having heard good things about it from a coeliac friend. No Name is a tiny restaurant in an end terrace with about seven or eight tables crammed in, with a creative vibe from the rather eclectic interior design – lots of paintings, photos, musical instruments and even a stuffed seagull flying off with an ice cream cone. The decor in the ladies’ loo was something else – somebody had fun designing this place.
The short menu changes frequently and is written up on a large chalk board on the wall (there is an example menu on their website). Allergens aren’t indicated, but there were a few things to choose from following a chat with the staff. The kitchen is tiny so it would be difficult to say there was no cross contamination risk, but the staff were very clear about what I could and couldn’t have and I had confidence in their understanding of cross contamination.
We nibbled some black olives with a glass of wine (they run a BYO policy), and then for starter, I had curry-cured salmon with minted yoghurt, coriander shoots and mango chutney - the fish is hiding beneath the cucumber in the picture below. The flavours in this really packed a punch – a miniature curry with some crunchy seeds for texture.
For main course I had market fish with parsley butter, tender stem broccoli and tartare potatoes. I can’t recall what the white fish was, unfortunately – halibut? haddock? But I do remember it was beautifully cooked and the vibrant parsley butter tasted as good as it looks. I wasn’t sure what to expect of the potatoes, but I am a fan of tartare sauce so the little pieces of gherkin and capers tied the spuds in nicely with the fish and broccoli.
My dessert was a slightly modified version of the menu’s warm chocolate mousse with malted milk ice cream, honeycomb and caramel. Mine came with vanilla ice cream instead of the malted milk. The ice cream was almost immersed in a big bath of silky, warm chocolate mousse, underneath some generous chunks of honeycomb. An absolutely lovely way to round off the meal.
Price-wise, No Name is on the expensive side, at £8-9 per starter and £19-25 per main courses, but these are really high quality dishes, expertly put together. And of course, you’re not paying for alcoholic drinks, so the bill at the end doesn’t seem too high. It’s open Wednesday to Saturday with two sittings and you definitely need to book, and somewhat unusually, it’s cash only. You do need to let them know about any allergens to avoid when booking. As the menu is limited it would be difficult for them to accommodate with no notice.
