The Modern Pantry

The regular menu is a lot better than their set menu. I’ve been to the one in Farringdon for brunch and liked the food so wanted our work Christmas lunch to be at their new Finsbury Square location. For 45 a person I expected a really good experience. I was thoroughly disappointed. Their appetizers were small, mains were good but not phenomenal, and their dessert of fondant wasn’t even molten in the middle! I left still hungry, so wrong. If they want this place to be as good as their other locations, their food has to get better, period.

Love the new modern pantry and think I finally found the place with the best scrambled eggs in London :) was a long hunt. The staff is really friendly, the food was delish and the place is really bright. Only downside is that they are not willing to customise the dish in any way.

Although the ambience and service are nice here, the pretentiousness of the menu is enough to put anyone off a meal.
I was here with two friends and had the MP version of fish and chips. The haddock was blackened on the outside and, other than the charred taste in my mouth, had absolutely no flavor. Although the chips were very tasty, I was not able to fully enjoy since there were only 4 of them, literally.
Basically, for £18.50, I feel like I enjoyed a lunch of [appetizers] bread & olives and still considered stopping for lunch at Wasabi on the way back to work.

Hot stuff popping up over here near Finsbury Square!
Modern Pantry v2.0 is now alive and kicking down in The City, just south of Old Street and near Moorgate Station. I’ve enjoyed several visits to its sophisticated sister in Clerkenwell over the years and as soon as we noticed the sign up during works, we anticipated the opening with great delight.
I’m here to report — all good up in here! I’ve been for dinner, drinks AND brunch and despite a few service quirks (common when things are new and shiny), the food and drinks are delicious and gorgeous and make you want to thank your mother for bringing you into the world, if not to have the one chance to taste sweetcorn, medjool date, spring onion waffles with motherfu**in’ bacon. My oh my oh my, Modern Pantry, you certainly do have a few cheeky little tricks up your culinary sleeve, don’t you?
It’s perfectly posh and a nice departure from the Old Street rotation. This is a place you’ll want to dress up a little. It’s not pretentious, but it does sort of warrant a special feeling. It’s kitted out in max form, really beautiful. The private dining room is elegant and superbly situated for a lovely evening.
We’ve sat at the bar for brunch and drinks…
Brunch is really where things hit a lovely note for me. In addition to the aforementioned life affirming waffles (photo below) the Clementine, Cardamom and Saffron Bellini elicited a euphoria in me that I didn’t know a brunch cocktail could do. There you have it, wow.
Don’t be worried to sit at the bar, it’s spacious and very well attended. You’ll view your gorgeous drinks being made and the food is exactly the same WITH the added bonus of a lighter tapas menu.
It’s on the pricey side but it has all the fittings to make it so – excellent food, great service, stellar ambience, and the added bonus of being a bit light on crowds when The City clears out for the weekend (Friday evening dinner — perfect time). I do suggest a booking for Brunch though as it was very full, to avoid disappointment def do so.
Modern Pantry — well done. Will look forward to many return visits!

Went for brunch at the new opening in Finsbury Square in the heart of the city. It’s a lovely doorway on the corner of the main street and the inside was light and spacious. Whilst booking a table I was given the option for us to sit at the tapas bar which just ahead was wonderful to see, so we choose that.
Perched on the stool it’s nice and informal and you can chat to the barman. We ordered some lovely cocktails on a most sunny day and choose a number of tapas dishes from the chalkboard up above. These included:
A crab and avocado bun (⁷⁄₁₀), lamb chops (⁸⁄₁₀), Cassava Croquettes (⁶⁄₁₀), seared scallop (⁷⁄₁₀), Bombay potato (⁸⁄₁₀) and a standout from the charcuterie board of rare beef fillet dish marinated in wine and balsamic I think (¹⁰⁄₁₀).
I would definitely choose to sit in the more informal tapas bar and select food from this most intimate yet airy space. I want to go for brunch which is what it is famed for but the lunch options were great!

Visited the Modern Pantry for brunch today, on a Sunday, and debated very hard between 3 and 4 stars.
The new restaurant is situated in a beautiful old building on the corner of Finsbury Square. The interior has been beautifully done and is fresh, bright and modern, but seems in keeping with the style of the building.
The brunch menu is fairly intimidating and convoluted — we did have to get the dictionary out on a few occasions, and in some cases it was hard to get the gist of what the dish actually was. There is also a somewhat passive aggressive note on the menu stating that under no circumstances can substitutions or changes be made to the dishes — which seems a little stingy given the price point. When the food arrived, however, it was delicious — just what brunch should be, with a fusion twist if that’s what you like (or good old eggs, sausage and toast if you don’t). One of our party did send her food back as it was burned, but they quickly replaced it with a new dish.
We also sampled a variety of desserts — the chocolate fondant is pretty good if you like a little kick with your pudding!
The drinks service left a little to be desired — in some cases the drinks took longer to arrive than the food and had to be chased up. They were also fairly inconsistent — some of the Bloody Marys were garnished, some were not, etc.
The bathrooms are a bit odd — they are unisex, and the cubicle doors are frosted and slightly translucent, which is an interesting design choice and a little unsettling. The taps will definitely be a talking point for your meal.
Overall the Modern Pantry served delicious food, and perhaps in reality deserved more than 3 stars. What tipped it for me was being told at the end of our meal that we had 2 minutes to vacate the table — in fairness we had paid by this point, but a little more notice would have been nice! I expect I’ll be returning though to give it another go.