Brawn

49 Columbia Rd, London

Pigs rule. It’s official. And nowhere do they worship at the altar of porkdom more than Brawn, a fun place of the small plate persuasion on Columbia Road, home of east London’s famed flower market. Painted brickwork, walls adorned with trendy artwork and desk-like tables add to the informality. Start with a ‘taste tickler’ of pork scratchings, before choosing from three menus: cold, hot and pig (dishes are around £7). For cold, try heirloom tomatoes bathed in a shallow pool of fine olive oil (mopping up with Brawn’s crusty bread is a must). Or smoked sprats with horseradish, or tasty prawns with mayo. You can tell that the standards from stablemate Terroirs have headed east. But we’re teasing here, because the main attractions lie in ‘hot’ and ‘pork’. Baked mushrooms, bone marrow, parsley and Alsace bacon make you weak at the knees; you wish clams, ham, chilli and garlic would never end. But I’d be telling porkies if I said that the brawn (marvellous meatiness) and pig’s trotters in sauce gribiche weren’t highlights. That said, the roasted peach with pistachio and Marsala custard proves they’re about far more than brawn at Brawn.