It's all about rhubarb this spring. From croissants to creme brûlée and from cocktails to kombucha, there's a glut of the pink stuff on menus across the city, and rounded up here are some of the best places to get more rhubarb into your life.
The rhubarb negroni at No. 17 Dickens Yard, Ealing
Adding a layer of tart tang to the negroni's usual bittersweet caress, the seasonal cocktail at this Ealing spot isn't one for the purists. Or for people with work the next day; these slip down far too easily. Made with Chase Rhubarb and Bramley Apple gin, and garnished with alcohol-steeped chunks of rhubarb, it's a tumblerful of spring. Best of all? It's a way to get your rhubarb fix that doesn't involve custard. We'll raise a glass to that.
No. 17 Dickens Yard, Unit 17 Dickens Yard, Longfield Avenue, W5 2TD.
The rhubarb soft serve at Dominique Ansel Bakery, Belgravia
Rhubarb sorbet, custard ice cream. Ginger waffle cone. Rhubarb crisp garnish. Dominique Ansel Bakery — conceivers of the Cronut, kings of whatever pastry's currently plastered all over your feed — brings you its seasonal soft-serve. Like most of the dessert here, it's ornate, frilly, and extravagantly Instagrammable.
Dominique Ansel Bakery, 17-21 Elizabeth Street, SW1W 9RP.
The rhubarb, cardamom and custard pastry at Pophams Bakery, Islington
Destination dining doesn't cut it anymore. It's all about the destination pastry: for evidence, witness the queues outside Pophams Islington shopfront of a morning.
The small bakery has been giving people reasons to cross London in pursuit of pastry since it opened in 2018 (you might remember the maple bacon croissant clogging up your Instagram feed). And now there's a rhubarby reason to make a beeline for Pophams at breakfast time. The rhubarb, cardamom and custard pastry's currently available every day. Weekend visitors can also swoop in on a creme brûlée and rhubarb pastry.
Like everything else at Pophams, you can expect these to be a) magnificent works of pastry layering and b) sold out in minutes. Go early or repent at leisure.
Pophams Bakery, 19 Prebend Street, N1 8PF.
Burnt cheesecake and rhubarb at BRAT, Shoreditch
Cooked in the wood-fired oven every morning to a caramel-coloured sheen on top, Brat's burnt cheesecakes are a fixture. What they're served with changes seasonally, though. Right now, it's rhubarb in tart lengths. Wash down with a Yorkshire Rose for maximum rhubarb intake — rhubarb, blood orange and Cocchi Rosa vermouth.
BRAT, 4 Redchurch Street, E1 6JL.
The vegan rhubarb and ginger doughnut at Crosstown Doughnuts, Soho and venues across London
Rhubarb and raspberry compote, ginger glaze, topped with vanilla bean crumble — Crosstown's swooping in to save the day for vegan rhubarb-fanciers with this spring limited-edition version.
The vegan doughnuts replace the usual sourdough with chia seeds and coconut butter, to give it a similar chew and texture to the standard version. And they've got it down to an art: by the time you distract us with glazes and dustings and sticky jams and biscuity crumbles, we'd honestly be hard-pushed to spot the difference.
Crosstown Doughnuts, venues across London.
The rhubarb and almond galette at Little Duck - The Picklery, Dalston
Don't necessarily expect to find the same dish twice at Little Duck, or go in search of something specific. The menu changes on a dime, seeking out the seasonal and locally sourceable. Right now, the odds are good you'll find a rhubarb and almond galette on it — the more trad custardy pairing is swapped out in favour of nuttiness and buckwheat. And clotted cream. We're thoroughly in favour. Kombucha fans can wash it down with Little Duck's homemade rhubarb version.
Little Duck: The Picklery, 68 Dalston Lane, E8 3AH.
View this post on InstagramRhubarb & almond galette on tonight’s menu and served with clotted cream.
