Go to Kum-ka-ka-kapi, Dalston - for a chorus line of fine fresh anchovies

Bring on the dancing anchovies

Do you see what I see?  No, not yet?  Really?  Well, all will become clear.  So, there we were, the three of us, myself, Dalston and the gorgeous Mary, formerly worthy birthday recipient of Rococo chocolate in this blog.  Is Rococo worthy of Mary?  Definitely.  But it's a close-run thing and only because it's some of the very best in chocolate there is to be had.

It was Kumkapi time.  The third time Dalston and I had been there.  Once by ourselves.  Once with Mary and her husband Sanjai for the aforementioned birthday and now, just the three of us - missing Sanjai but being consoled by the presence of anchoves - a small shoal of them.

Do you see it yet?  OK, if not, you obviously need a little helping hand.  The anchoves are obviously showgirls.  Look more closely and you can see they're getting ready to do the formation dancing so memorably choreographed by Busby Berkeley.  They may not have feathers in their hair or a dress split up to there, but they are definitely top quality anchovies, fresh, feisty, perfectly fried.

We'd started with the aubergine salad - we all love aubergine, and halloumi, which I always find a bit squeaky, but means that the last piece is available for Mary and Dalston to share.  Our fish was accompanied by a lovely chef's salad.

And it really was a chef's salad because the chef was the only member of staff on duty that night.  He rather sweetly kept apologising for the fact but we didn't mind because (a) Kumkapi is a lovely restaurant; (b) the company was wonderful; and (c) the food arrived at perfectly timed intervals and was utterly delicious.

Mary and I shared the anchoves (there weren't enough for 3 portions), and Dalston had some beautifully cooked swordfish (that is perfectly cooked), dresssed with capers (back to the gobstopper capers again - tasty though - it does beg the question as to whether anyone uses nonpareil capers any more) and tiny (Morecambe Bay?) prawns, and accompanied by potatoes and a bit of greenery.

Very sweetly, Dalston shared with us, as we did with him, so it was a lovely communal meal.



Gobstopper capers dwarfing teeny prawns with great swordfish

I shouldn't be mean about the capers really, they did taste very nice and thanks to Dalston's generous hand both Mary and I ended up with large slabs of swordfish and Dalston with some beautiful anchovies.

My plate looked like this

We then went back to Dalston's for pudding and ginger tea, as previously featured in this blog.

Dalston had the foresight to mount a raid on Tugra for baklava, moist, syrupy, delicious as always.

I'd brought some unsulphured dried apricots (really very delicious and toffee-like) and Śliwki.  Dalston had some dates.

And this time I actually rememberd to take the photos before we ate it all up.  Next time, Sanjai, it's anchoves all round - promise!