8.8
Great
Pop ups

Jason Allen 23/01/25


Rake

A truly great pop-up comes in two parts: the venue, and the food. If both of them align, then it’s basically the culinary version of a solar eclipse—ephemeral, magnificent, and worth making plans to experience.

And Rake at the Compton Arms is blinding.

So, taking those halves one at a time, let’s start with the space. The Compton Arms is a pretty, iconic-as-in-actually-iconic spot in Islington. In fact, between writing Animal Farm and 1984, George Orwell penned a treatise on “the perfect pub” inspired by this very place, so it’s it’s got some decent pedigree to say the least. It’s a small, cozy space with simple Victorian-style wooden tables inside, and an intimate (well-heated) garden outside that’s a good spot for an alfresco pint.

Rake

Now, the kitchen team. Rake is a modern British restaurant concept helmed by a hyper-talented trio of chefs—Jay Claus, Peter Ward, and Syrus Pickhaver. Their collective CVs boast top-tier spots like Brat, ACME Fire Cult, and Quo Vadis, and it bloody well shows. They’re fresh from a residency at The Gun in Hackney (which was, pun massively intended, banging).

The food they’re slinging here leans heavily on seafood, all shipped overnight from Cornwall. Highlights include an inventive oyster rarebit, some Cumberland sausage-spiced lardo that practically melts in your mouth, glorious steamed crab claws with laver & bacon, and eminently snackable beer-battered cockles and clams. But the standout? That’d be the ray wing tenders stacked on a house-made crumpet drizzled in hot golden syrup. It sounds like it was cooked up in a fever dream, but it’s absolutely delicious.

Rake

The ray wing tenders – taken in the garden, where they were bathed in the red glow of the heaters

There’s some non-aquatic stuff on the menu too, like a fragrant half roast chicken with stuffing gravy, or a dictionary-thick beef ribeye draped in onion rings. Pair either with a plate of their ultra-chunky, nearly-roast-potato-thick chips with curry mayo, and you’re golden.

Something tells us they’ll be raking it in.

 

NOTE: Rake’s residency at the Compton Arms will run for the forseeable. You can find out more, and make a booking at the Compton Arms website

Compton Arms | 4 Compton Ave, N1 2XD


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Rake


4 Compton Ave, Islington, North London, N1 2XD

8.8 | Great