Think of the Kingly Court as the food equivalent of a tech incubator. If you’re a budding restaurateur and you’re looking to graduate from a market food stall to the next new thing, then this is where you come. Donia follows in the footsteps of recent Kingly Court successes such as Darjeeling Express and Imad’s Syrian Kitchen. It provides a wonderful showcase for Filipino food, a much under-represented cuisine on the London dining scene.
Located on the top floor of Soho’s culinary emporium, Donia – Filipino for Madam – is a cool and slick offering. The venue feels light and spacious with comfortable dark green banquets and wooden tables contrasting with white-washed walls. There are few distractions for diners other than the open kitchen, allowing the main focus to be on the food. For those unfamiliar with Filipino cooking, it perhaps bears most similarities with certain Chinese regions. Sour and sweet flavours often pair off in dishes. Soy and peppercorns feature substantially and while chilli is present, it is far from the centrepiece of any offering.
The team at Donia keep things simple with the menu divided into three sections of up to half a dozen dishes each. In line with current fashion, guests are encouraged to share everything, with a typical order likely to comprise one to two items from each section for a pair of diners. Other reviewers had highlighted the joy of Donia’s offal skewers and mushroom croquettes. Both went straight onto our order. The former was an artfully presented quintet of chicken’s hearts – the offal in question apparently changes regularly – placed on top of a tar-like soy and tamarind sauce. A dash of burnt lime provided needed energy and balance to the dish. The hearts were gone in a flash, and we could easily have ordered more. The croquettes also pleased, exhibiting a real depth of umami offset by a crunchy exterior.
If Donia’s opening offerings were good, then our main dishes were truly excellent. My lechon (pork belly) served in a liver peppercorn sauce will be one of those plates that will come to me in my dreams and leave me salivating. Were I on a (Filipino) dessert island, then this could be my dish. The chicken inasal selected by my dining comrade was an aesthetic masterpiece – see picture – that achieved depth and presence through the charring of the skin (or inasal) and its topping with various pickled vegetables. A simple side of roast potatoes in a sesame sauce was a genius pairing.
We stuck to beer to relieve our thirst on this occasion but a longer evening would justify further perusal of both the drinks and food menus. The former showed some promising cocktail options. Small dishes always result in a bigger bill than initially budgeted, but pricing remains fair by central London standards. Based on what Donia has achieved, London needs more Filipino restaurants.