Review: Tas Firin, East London
The frost is forming growing crystals of ice on the pavements of east London. Small clouds puff out of people walking along the streets as if they were tiny, human-powered steam locomotives. One by one, wrapping themselves warmer into their layers of Gore Tex, casting furtive yet flirtatious glances through the narrow slit between scarf and woolly hat, the multicultural mish-mash of people are scurrying along to implement their respective centrally heated escape plans.
Sure, it can be a cold and inhospitable world out there – and there’s nothing quite as draining of joie de vivre as Bethnal Green on a cold winter night. Which is where Tas Firin comes in. From the moment you open the door, and see the billows of heat and steam escape, reaching for the icy winter sky above, you realise that this is a different kind of restaurant. From the bar in the corner which made me think that perhaps Tas Firin used to be a Jamaican joint before they took the place over; it’s essentially one of those beach huts you find on Caribbean beaches, where they’ll serve you a mean Coconut Water and Rum along with a 20-minute tirade about the Meaning of Life. (more…)