RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK: Modern Pantry, Finsbury Square

Modern Pantry restaurant near Barbican
Culinary institution Modern Pantry Clerkenwell has won legions of devotees since it opened in 2008. Its all day menu, which features dishes like Cornish crab with smoked mussel, umeboshi, avocado, seaweed and endive, is globetrotting modern fusion at its best.
Afternoon teas are just as innovative (think coffee and malt marzipan Battenbergs and rosewater and sour cherry scones) and many food-loving Londoners will tell you there’s no better way to spend a Sunday than the Modern Pantry brunch.
So news that owner Anna Hansen is opening a second branch of the growing Modern Pantry London franchise, this time in a Georgian building on the corner of Finsbury Square early in September, is likely to go down well.
Some of the best brunch East London has to offer
The new Modern Pantry restaurant near Old Street will feature a tapas bar and private dining room, with long-time Hansen disciple Rob McLeary heading up the kitchen. Sneak peeks posted on Instagram suggest that the decor will be as elegant and minimalist as that of its predecessor, while the Modern Pantry menu will feature more inspired global combinations, including Dhansak-spiced rose veal mince omelette and confit duck salad with anise-marinated black fig. The legendary afternoon teas will begin at the new venue in January 2016, just in time to distract from winter blues.
Few Finsbury Square restaurants can boast such an eclectic menu as this, so if you're looking for the best restaurants East London has seen opening in recent months, or if you're just on the hunt for unique restaurants near Finsbury Square, look no further than Hansen's latest treat for the tastebuds: the Modern Pantry has yet to disappoint.