Is it a bird, is it a plane? Is it a wine bar with good food, or a restaurant where you might leave slightly hungry? Nick finds Duchy a bit confusing, but still a good place to be.

Ah, vinyl behind the bar and an old turntable set up ready for action. If I could have predicted the record revolution (sic) I’d not have sold my eight hundred or so LPs, nor my venerable Goldring deck. I was carried away by the excitement of CDs, and where are they now? Mostly in skips. Which is ironic really as CD’s allure was that they never skipped. Boom Boom!

Duchy has the look and feel that was once very Shoreditch. Gone now are the hipsters with their beards, tattoos and obsession with hops and burgers, but like a lost tribe some of their artefacts and their sacred items still remain to be examined by today’s explorers.

Duchy is in fact built by two previous alumni of hip, Alex Grant and chef Simon Shand, who met at a place called Leroy in London Fields and then set up here in Spitalfields. It’s a triangular place in layout, weekly changing menu, nice industrial windows, exposed brickwork and an open kitchen.

From here we are sent out some pre-starters to begin the set lunch. We will share all our dishes. Calabrian anchovies laid on butter and toasted bread is clearly not something to test chef’s cooking skills, but that’s okay because I can eat top quality butter and anchovies at any time of day or night. Indeed I have been caught raiding our home fridge for a sliver of cold butter at 3 am more than once.

Alongside we have a plate of cornichons with some saucisson sec from the Savoie region and a drizzle of olive oil plus pillow-soft bread with Netherend Farm Butter. Again this is simple enough, but why not? It’s all down to the quality of the ingredients and these are first class.

The wine list is also clean and simple; we have a glass of Grillo (served slightly warm, but that’s swiftly rectified) and a Vermentino. Both are reasonably priced, at least by today’s standards.

On to starters proper. A white crab rarebit, using Comte cheese and a bit of Dijon mustard, has the right creamy, airy lightness that a rarebit these days often lacks. The crab could have been a bit more generous, but with its golden top it’s still a tasty little treat. S wonders if it’s really a dish or a snack?  I have no answer. I still don’t.

Radicchio leaves, more bitter than a bad divorce, are strewn with pungent roquefort, fresh walnuts and slivers of pear. It’s a messy eat, but worth the effort.

Mains are more substantial, A confit fennel risotto certainly fills us up, although we did feel the rice was slightly chalky. I would also have liked a bit of parmesan added into this one during the mantecatura or, if there was some already in there, a bit more. The generous scattering of pine nuts was a nice touch. A good dish.

What might be called a proper full plate was chicken leg roasted with Savoy (Savoie) cabbage and Ratte potatoes. Very tasty chicken, the intense heat of the Josper oven creating perfectly crispy skin. I grow Rattes myself, it’s a ‘main crop’ potato that looks like a new potato and is, along with Pink Fir Apple, one of the very best varieties. Revered in France, hardly noticed here.The fried cabbage was full of flavour, always far better than boiling it.

And so to dessert. A deliciously rich chocolate mousse with hazelnuts, and some Meules Des Alpes cheese with apricot and crackers. The Savoie region produces superb cheeses, mainly due to the wonderful wild flowers and fresh grass the cows eat from spring onwards when the snow melts. Aged like its relative Comte, it’s creamy and nutty.

We left just about sated. Yes the plates were small, but then so was the bill. Excluding drinks it was £32 each for all the main dishes and £12 each for the ‘nibbles’. That’s not bad for premium ingredients sensitively handled and served in a pleasant space by pleasant people.

18 Phipp Street, London, EC2A 4NU

(but be careful, the entrance is actually around the corner a bit)

www.duchyrestaurant.com/