Palings Kitchen & Bar

What was once home to the pumping ivy bar, the meaty Mad Cow and the Thai-dyed Sailors Thai is now a theatrically open-plan, multi-tasking, marketplace concept space. Palings features crowd-pleasing deli and grill offerings from chef Christopher Whitehead, a snappy little Thai cantina called Sunee's, dreamy desserts from Lorraine Godsmark's patisserie, as well as plenty of Merivale bar action. The business crowd still comes by day for a decent steak, only now they can come back at night as well for New York deli sandwiches, salads and a pastie-shaped pie of the day. The kitchen-sink cuisine suits the beer garden atmosphere, from Vietnamese-influenced skewers of grilled pork belly and prawns to an odd Japanese/Dutch hybrid of smoked eel with teriyaki glaze, potato salad and potato chips, plus a tangy green sauce. A rare wagyu beef salad from Sunee's is done well, as is anything from Lorraine Godsmark's dessert menu - whether a block of strawberry mascarpone or a fab rhubarb pie.