It’s a fitting addition to the buzzy Lonsdale Road
Home to the likes of Milk Beach, Carmel, Pizza Pilgrims and microbrewery Wolfpack, plus yoga studios and clothes stores, Lonsdale Road in Queen’s Park is hardly barren, but Coco di Mama founder Daniel Land is attracting even more people to this mews-style street with his latest venture Don’t Tell Dad.
Named in tribute to his late sister Lesley and the phrase she’d often say, Don’t Tell Dad is half bakery, half restaurant. Head Baker Keren Sternberg (ex-Layla), has created quite the buzz on social media with bakes like hazelnut brown butter croissants, bergamot and cardamom doughnuts, and artichoke, sage and Lancashire cheese pain suisse, but the restaurant, packed on our dinner visit, is clearly going down well with the locals too.
Eat This
The name might be inspired by childhood mischievousness but the food at Don’t Tell Dad is more comforting than anything else. Head Chef Luke Frankie (ex-Noble Rot and Drapers Arms), is leading the kitchen and he’s dotted French and British influences across the menu – there are oxtail crumpets alongside truffle and cheddar beignets, you can get tea smoked trout with soda bread and braised pork with celeriac remoulade, the potato of choice is pommes anna.
As there’s a bakery on site, starting with some bread is practically obligatory – you get a selection of different styles with some properly salty butter – but don’t skip the crab tart, with lovely crisp pastry generously filled with brown and white meat. The endive, pear and comté salad is a pleasing rendition of a classic combination, made moreish thanks to chunky candied walnuts.
There are a handful of regular-sized mains on the menu but if you’re planning on sharing, commit to it and order one of the big dishes. The skate wing, an absolutely enormous piece of fish, comes perfectly cooked and dressed with a tangle of soft potato slices, clams and wild garlic. It gives major holiday vibes, especially alongside a crisp, cold glass of white.
Make sure you do leave room for dessert though – you may not be able to get one of the pastries you’ve seen on your FYP in the evenings but you can get a glorious rhubarb and almond tart and madeleines fresh from the oven.
Drink This
A spritz or the rhubarb and almond sour is a great way to kick off your meal (and a nice bookend if you do go for the rhubarb dessert), otherwise there’s a thoughtful wine list from Which Wine When author Bert Blaize. As well as the bottle selection, there’s a good range of wines by the glass and carafe, including a delightful Falanghina that goes wonderfully with fish.
Why Go
Don’t Tell Dad looks the part; it’s deep red and cream palette, beautiful tiled floor, and tapestry depicting Queen’s Park life by local artist Martha Hussey on the large sharing table, make it stylish but still warm and inviting, and the food mirrors that vibe to a tee. It’s a very good neighbourhood restaurant, the kind that you wish was round the corner from your house.
Key Information
Address | 10-14 Lonsdale Road, London NW6 6RD
For more information | donttelldad.co.uk
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