Ziggy Green taps into Australian cafe culture for a dining venue that’s effortlessly cool. Head down for everything you could ever wish for on a Friday night – cocktails, tacos and so much more…
It’s Friday night. The music is pumping as I make my way upstairs to a table at Ziggy Green, which is tucked between hip and cool, on Heddon Street, W1. I reach the top and make a detour instead of sitting down. It’s impossible to walk past the hypnotic artwork of Bowie (by artists Bonnie and Clyde and Grazie) that greets you there. It’s surrounded by palm trees, tables, mismatched chairs, covered in faded jacquard fabric and chintzy floor lamps. It’s metaphorically begging you to come over. I oblige. Whichever way you look at it it’s all very beautiful. A punk alter to Bowie stands as a reminder of how achingly cool he was.
My friend is frantically waving across the restaurant and calling me over. As I make my way across it doesn’t escape me that the decor is clinical with splashes of colour. I mean that as a compliment. It’s what my own home looks like; loud yet controlled and everyone always has a good time.
We start with the Insta-famous Watermelon Fountain (£25 and £20 for a refill). Oh, so good. Fresh watermelon juice, Olmeca Blanco tequila, Cointreau and lime. It’s served in a whole real watermelon with a tap you can operate to get at the drink. ‘Clean, crisp and refreshing’, say my notes. All true. There’s enough inside the fruit for at least six drinks but you will refill because it’s splendid.
If you’re not a meat-eater this is a great place. The menu is made up of delightful vegetarian and vegan dishes without making a cause of it. My friend, a pescetarian, was excited to see so many choices. A starter of vegan ceviche (£9.20) of mango, sweet potato, enoki mushroom and chilli was superb; tangy yet light on the tongue. As were the popcorn prawns (£8.50). Don’t miss the watermelon and feta salad (£8) made of cucumber, pickled watermelon rind and samphire. Eaten together these dishes were a joy.
Then we got down to the real reason we came here – tacos. Small, well-crafted things that arrive in pairs, as colourful as the decor, as tasty as Bowie. First up was spicy jackfruit (£8) and lamb barbacoa (£9.20). The jackfruit taco is topped with house guacamole, mother-in-law-salsa, pickled onions and cashew cream. Colour, texture, taste – hitting up all the senses at once. The lamb barbacoa consisted of house labne, pico de gallo, pomegranate and chimichurri. Add pomegranate to anything and you’ll win me over. Add it to lamb and I’m yours. Can’t be sure if you got that this was my favourite. We also had the Baja fish (£7.90) made of avocado, mango salsa, jalapeño, cabbage and spicy soured cream. Divine.
To end what was an incredible evening of food and drink we shared a tres leches cake (£6) for dessert. I don’t quite know how to say it but given that Daisy Green single-handedly upstaged the cupcake with coconut-covered lamingtons, during lockdown, I should have expected it. This was hands-down the best tres leches cake I’d ever had. Like all the other dishes, beautiful to look at and a joy to relish.
So, if we are to be struck down by the rule of six for the foreseeable future then I couldn’t think of a better place to be than Ziggy Green. Go forth and enjoy.
You can enjoy brunch and bottomless brunch at Ziggy Green everyday until 3.30pm at £34.50 per person. For more information visit: www.daisygreenfood.com
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Ziggy Green
1 Heddon St
Mayfair
London
W1B 4BD
