Minnow, Clapham Common: a neighbourhood idyll in the making

Freshly opened alongside Clapham Common, Minnow is an instant charmer.

It seduces before serving a thing thanks to its pastel green frontage and Parisian-style café tables, the hanging roses around its window and even it’s diminutive name — chosen by husband-and-wife owners Chris Frichot and Saba Tsegaye (he was previously in front-of-house at Hawksmoor and Caravan) to reflect that the restaurant is a small but independent fish in a big pond.

The effect continues inside, with a tiled black and white floor, light wood tables and grey banquettes creating an effect that is the archetype of light and airy. There are more flowers hanging on a doorway, and an itsy terrace adorned with flower boxes out back. All that’s missing is a white picket fence.

A short cocktail list which sees each drink named after a different Clapham resident through history, and served with a bar mat explaining the details, is another endearing touch — the kind of thing you’d see on a Pinterest wedding board and copy for yourself.

The Grieg, named after Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, is a Scandi-influenced take on a martini made with both dry and sweet vermouth and then smoked — a far gutsier proposition than the delicate surrounds.

The inventiveness doesn't stop with the drinks. Many of the dishes created by Jake Boye, previously head chef at Jason Atherton’s Social Wine & Tapas, are fondly fresh-faced.

His take on snacks for the table are a prime example. Crispy chicken skin served with aioli and a bowl of whelks in garlic butter are both uncomplicated but unusual; clean and simple but clever.

Of the starters, salmon marinated in citrus with samphire and sea vegetables is a zingy high point, while a stand-out main of slow-cooked beef shin is destined to be a signature dish.

Softened until almost mince-like and served with a buttery mash and shards of pickled black mooli, it’s effectively a riff on cottage pie and pickled cabbage while a shard of pork scratching makes a fun savoury wafer to scoop it up with — classy comfort food.

Elsewhere there are a few details to be honed, but they’re the sort of minor glitches that come when you try new things. A salad of cauliflower, pomegranate, chicory and honey is too bitter due to an overdose of chicory that overwhelms a delicate cauliflower purée, and the delicacy of perfectly moist and plump grilled plaice served in a luscious caper butter is undermined by the overuse of sharp lemon thyme.

Likewise, the table is unanimous that an otherwise delicious pudding of marinated peaches which come with almond ice cream and dill would be better without the greenery. Maybe stick to the sugar-coated chocolate doughnut which is a born pleaser instead.

In Minnow, the people of Clapham have a serene and sociable neighbourhood idyll in the making. A few tweaks here and there and it may not stay quite such a small fish for long.

Final Flavour: Neighbourhood dining with a creative flourish

At what cost? Snacks from £3, starters from £6, mains from £12. Wine from £6 a glass.

Find it: 21 The Pavement, SW4 0HY; minnowclapham.co.uk.