A little corner of Paris has arrived in East London, as Bistro Sablé takes up residence above The Princess of Shoreditch for a limited three-month stay. Following the success of its debut, the French bistro from Noble Inns has opened on 1 October, transforming the first floor of the much-loved Shoreditch pub into an intimate 32-seat restaurant until the end of the year. And with classic French cooking, flea-market finds from Paris and a suitably atmospheric spiral staircase leading upstairs, it sounds rather well suited to autumn evenings.
Bistro Sablé takes its inspiration from the traditional dining rooms and neighbourhood bistros of Paris, with a menu that leans firmly towards comforting French classics rather than reinvention for reinvention’s sake.
Among the dishes will be rotisserie chicken with vin jaune and girolles, alongside cassoulet au confit de canard, reassuringly French dishes that feel particularly appropriate as the evenings begin to draw in. Downstairs, The Princess of Shoreditch will continue to retain its pub character, with a pared-back blackboard menu featuring Bistro Sablé-inspired dishes for those dropping in for a drink, a lighter bite or something altogether more spontaneous.
The upstairs restaurant is also being given a suitably French makeover. Oversized vintage posters sourced from Parisian flea markets will hang alongside elegant bistro-style lighting, with simple wooden tables and chairs keeping things relaxed and understated. Guests will enter through a dedicated entrance before making their way up the pub's signature spiral staircase to the dining room. It’s a pleasing combination: the easy informality of an East London pub downstairs, with a more intimate French dining room tucked away above it.
The residency also marks a new chapter for The Princess of Shoreditch, allowing the pub and Bistro Sablé to sit alongside one another rather than one replacing the other. Whether it’s a quick glass and something from the blackboard downstairs or an evening of cassoulet and French wine upstairs, we rather like the sound of this particular Paris-meets-Shoreditch pairing.
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Written by Claire Bloom
Photography courtesy of Bistro Sablé
