Last week we had plans to make some Thursday night moves and shapes at Dance Tunnel for FWD>> with Jackmaster and Ben UFO. A totally wonderful night for many reasons- great dj’s, birthday vibes, a dark yet friendly dance floor and a great sound system- admittedly all probably made a little sweeter by the feeling that we shouldn’t be doing this to quite the extent at which we were on a week night but there are no regrets on this blog…!
A friend booked a table at POND in Dalston for a chance to be civilised and catch up over cocktails and dinner before things got loud and dark across the road. I’d never heard of this place, possibly because I’m not from around these parts but was excited about the Hawaiian fare and the possibility of getting nostalgic for my travelling days (POND draws on foods brought to Hawaii by immigrants from around the Pacific). Set on a side road off the Kingsland Road in a huge old warehouse, the place felt vast as soon as we stepped in from the cold- it’s decked out very tastefully and from the word go it felt like a bit of a treat. We started off with a cocktail (Kamm on Baby Light My Fire went down very well) and a few of the smaller plates to nibble over while we decided what to go for for mains. There were 4 of us so we ordered a portion of the spam fries and a couple of portions of the fish tacos. Cue a long and hearty conversation over what exactly spam is (salted pork shoulder and ham meat in case you were wondering) and how it’s probably suffered a bit of a tough deal over the years because actually, it’s pretty tasty. By this time we were ready for another round of drinks and told ourselves to focus on the task at hand of ordering mains.
There are some really delicious looking dishes on the menu at Pond, but we decided to go for the Pork Belly, the Habanero Beef Rib, the Hilo Korean Chicken and the Catfish to share between us all. The food arrived and not only looked amazing yes, and smelt gorgeous uh huh, and it DID remind me of that ‘best meal I ever had’ on the beach in the Mamanuca Islands when I was 21, skinny, tanned and care-free (sigh) but more than anything it was just such a pleasure to eat food that wasn’t overly complicated, was cooked really really well and the portion sizes were generous. None of us could stop eating, and with each dish we tried we declared that actually this one was our favourite. Gorgeous- top marks POND Dalston.
Eager to get to Dance Tunnel we skipped dessert, but 2-3 rounds of drinks, starters and mains plus a side of teriyaki vegetables came in at just under £40 a head including service charge. A completely unexpected delight, that I will definitely be returning to soon to check out the rest of the menu.
A fabulous date place too for those romantic guys and girls of London town. Get to Dalston, go to POND and see where the night takes you.
Peeps London 