On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of attending the restaurant opening of Albion Clerkenwell.
I remembered the first came time I came across an Albion restaurant, was in Shoreditch. It was Winter, I felt cold, hungry and had just finished a photowalk with friends around the area. I recalled ordering a classic fish pie and loving it. It was the perfect Winter comfort food.
They did amazing take away coffee and pastries too. I was so impressed, I featured the Albion Shoreditch as one of my to go to ‘locally inspired’ places for America’s Domino magazine online.
Albion’s founder Peter Prescott said that Clerkenwell was the perfect fit for their newest and biggest Albion, as the area was vibrant from a design perspective, rich in a history of craftsmanship and creation.
Clerkenwell certainly is home to a large concentration of designers, architects and creative agencies. It is also renowned for playing host to the super cool Clerkenwell Design week each year.
The grocery and bakery sections are the first thing you see as as you enter the building.
The grocery shop specialises in British food and drink from established brands such as Coleman’s mustard or Maldon’s salt, to regional specialties.
Here’s a close up view of what’s on offer, on the shelves.
They stock a curated collection of pantry essentials, gift foods and culinary treats.
Look at these mouth watering croissants and pastries fresh from the oven. All of Albion’s baked goods are made on the premises from scratch.
I’ve heard that their cheese and Marmite scrolls are delicious. Being a Marmite fan, I will definitely have to return another day to try some.
Here’s the coffee bar.
These delectable peanut cookies would be perfect with coffee,
or maybe I should have the pistachio cake?
When you see fruits and vegetables looking so fresh and beautiful, you know your food is going to taste great.
In addition to the Grocery, Bakery, classic British menu and evening Grill, there is also a Craft beer and wine shop, an Oyster bar, Cheese & Charcuterie corner, Pie room and Cocktail bar.
The restaurant’s design was overseen by Sir Terence Conran, with Isabelle Chatel de Brancion from Spin Architectures.
The space has been furnished with modern classic furniture and lighting from talents such as Bethan Gray, Anglepoise, Ercol and Innermost . These have been specially selected by Albion’s founder, Peter Prescott.
Here’s a refreshing cocktail that I tried. It’s called the Hendrick’s cup and consisted of Gin with peeled cucumber, thyme and Juniper berries.
This one was called the Albion Pimms and consisted of Gin, British sweet Vermouth, Cherry heering, Grand Marnier, Summer fruits and lemonade. It was delicious.
On to what I ate at Albion Clerkenwell.
I couldn’t sample all the food areas, so will definitely have to head back to The Pie Room and the Cheese & Charcuterie corner another day.
For starters, I had Asparagus, soft boiled Burford eggs with lovage salad. The warm Asparagus were fresh and nutty to taste. The egg was a contrasting cold. I liked the egg cold but my husband suggested that he preferred it warm.
For the main course, we had Native lobster with a Summer salad. The lobster was delicious and fresh and went well with the crunchy green salad.
We ordered a few side dishes. The Triple cooked chips were piping hot and delicious, the cucumber and mint was a real wake up to Summer and the Brit quinoa with dried fruits and seed salad were a tasty combination. 
To finish, I had my all time favourite sticky toffee pudding with ice cream
Love the typography on these coffee cups.
Hope you have enjoyed the post. I know I will be back there soon to try all the different food areas. Have a lovely day all.
(All photography are by Geraldine Tan, editor of Little Big Bell. I was invited as a guest to Albion Clerkenwell’s opening but all opinions stated in this post are my own.)