If you haven’t been to Fish Island, there are two things you should know about it: 1) it isn’t an island. It’s a neighbourhood abutting Hackney Wick which happens to have a lot of streets named after our aquatic friends. And 2) it’s home to an absolutely wonderful place called Inis.
Pronounced ‘inish’, it’s actually the Irish word for island, and just to really complete the poetic image it also happens to be sitting on the water too, at the exact point where the arrow-straight canal cuts into the lazy elbow of the River Lee.
The place itself is a casual & rather elegantly minimalist cafe (that will become a fully fledged, dinner-serving restaurant soon enough) that comes to us from a wife & wife pair called Lindsey & Lyndsy. They’re both locals, and Lyndsey-with-a-y happens to have been the director at The Ginger Pig, as well as a consultant at Borough Market, so their produce is understandably pretty top-shelf.
Marshalling all those ingredients into actual food is chef Craig Johnson (formerly of Arbutus and The Corner Room), who has created an ever-evolving menu of British-Irish dishes that all lean heavily into the philosophy of low-waste and sustainability, with highly seasonal goods, and inventive use of leftover products.
Currently, they have two different tiers of food option, with an assortment of affordable dishes & salads to compliment a few fancier a la carte offerings. Dishes change with the breeze, but you can expect the likes of mussels in garlicky sauce with some beautifully crunchy homemade chips; Welsh rarebit with cider-braised leeks; or some whiskey-barrel smoked salmon on Irish brown bread. And to finish, you’re more or less required to get the Guinness Cake – it’s a thick slab of chocolate cake with voluptuous mascarpone icing and a hot custard to pour on top, and it is addictively good.
The booze is the domain of both wine expert Clara Rubin (formerly the Drapers Arms), and cocktail man Liam Davy (formerly of Hawksmoor), and they’re doing a stellar job as-is, although both of those will really come into their own once the place is open for evenings.
It’s worth crossing the water for.
NOTE: Inis is open for breakfast & lunch seven days a week. You can find out more, and make a booking at the Inis website.
Inis | 13 Rookwood Way, Fish Island, E3 2XT
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