Emma Mykytyn Teal by Sally Abé: polished British cooking with London prices to match
Chef Sally Abé opened Teal on Wilton Way in Hackney on 26th March 2026, taking over the former Sesta site (which was Pidgin before that). First impressions are that it is smart but small – a bit too small. We were only the second table to arrive after they opened but were sandwiched in beside the only other couple in the restaurant, with their table having to be shuffled over to accommodate us…not the best start. You can see how close we were to our dining companions here.
About Sally Abé
Abé is one of the UK’s best-known female chefs, with experience at The Harwood Arms, The Pem, The Bull in Charlbury and The Ledbury. At Teal, the cooking leans into elevated British classics, seasonal produce and nostalgic flavours given a smart, modern finish.
The menu at Teal by Sally Abé
The menu is quite quirky with a selection of Victorian hors d’œuvres, the unexpected combo of bone marrow and snail, and penny licks (we first learned what this was as a result of an ice-cream cafe which opened in Tillicoultry in 2022). Starters are £14 – 17, while mains are £30 – 36 but you’ll be expected to order a side as well. Desserts are all £12, with inflation now meaning that a penny lick is £1. A 13.5% service charge is also automatically added to the bill.
What we ate and drank at Teal by Sally Abé
The menu starts with savouries, which we are advised were originally to be eaten between courses. We’d come across some before, such as Devils on horseback, which we’d enjoyed at the Hind’s Heads in Bray away back in 2011, but this was our first time experiencing Locket’s Savoury. We opted for one of each, minus the more expected bread option, with butter hand-churned by Sally herself – as good as that sounded, it arrived at the table next to us before we ordered, so gave us a chance to decide that it wasn’t quite as rustic as we’d hoped, so made a pass. If you know us, you know we like our bread and butter – was this a sign of our dinner thoughts?
The savouries appeared one-by-one before the starters. There are devils and angels on horseback, both vying for attention. Devils are sweet prunes filled with rich chicken liver parfait and wrapped in crisp bacon, ordering only one does look a bit measly so you may require more than one per person.
Angels are oysters, also in bacon, deep-fried into deliciousness.
Scotch eggs are given a glow-up with pigs’ head in the meat mixture and the addictive Oxford sauce (mustard, vinegar and sugar). A common gripe for us is places trying to cook the perfect runny yolk egg, and more often than not, they’re undercooked. We always prefer a bit overcooked than undercooked, and here, you may notice, some slimy albumen. Just a little bit more cooking was required as the meat was still moist and a little claggy in comparison to the crisp outer coating.
A Lockets savoury was our final appetiser, which was slices of pear atop melted stilton on toast. We could happily have munched on more of these, however, there was more on the menu to sample.
Baked bone marrow, snails, garlic, parsley and malt. Perfectly cooked marrow with layers of tastiness. It was far too easy to scoop onto the accompanying bread and munch.
Devilled crab tartlet, fine herbs and lemon. What could have been a stunning showcase of flavour turned into a pile of herbs. Jay Rayner ate this when he dined here and described his as “a lightly dressed salad of infant chervil and parsley”. We wouldn’t call this lightly dressed, this was a herb onslaught! It’s not often where we’d say herbs have overpowered a dish but this was one occasion.
Onto the mains, and first Cornish mussels, Jersey royals, cauliflower and sea herbs. This dish felt like it had mistakenly wandered in from a tasting menu given the size of it! A delicious dish, however, it was small. Just as well we had ordered a side of potatoes..!
Our other main was beef sirloin, short rib and garlic. Now this was a better portion and cooked perfectly. Pink, tender beef accompanied by delicate vegetables.
Our side of potatoes was very nicely cooked and saved the day for me as my portion of food was on the meagre side.
In no time at all, it was dessert time. We felt a little pressured to order, eat it and get out of the way before the next reservation arrived. We also ordered a Penny Lick (at £1) in addition to our desserts, but they never arrived. 🙁
So first dessert is Marmalade ice cream sandwich. Crisp slivers of bread with a slice of ice cream with accent dots of marmalade sauce. The marmalade tang was missing here – I was expecting more of Seville orange hit but it provided a light end to a light meal.
Our other dessert was Raspberry marshmallow teacake. Coming from the land of Tunnock’s teacakes, this was a slightly more posh version of the Uddingston classic but some more jam in the teacake would have been welcome.
Verdict and final thoughts
The cooking is pretty accomplished, but with small portions and a hefty service charge added on, the experience comes with a price tag that may leave diners wincing. The limited space and feeling of being rushed left us with less of a relaxed bistro feel and more of a quick turnaround experience. For drinks we had two glasses of wine each during our meal but heard another waiter almost force a table into ordering glasses of Champagne with their meal, which didn’t sit right with us. The total cost of our meal including the 13.5% service charge was £238.94.
Teal was very good but not amazing and likely somewhere for special occasions rather than casual nights out. Given we live in Glasgow we’re unlikely to visit again but if we were more local, the main thing that would put us off returning to Teal is that there’s only one toilet (Mark used to work as a toilet attendant when he was a student so he knows exactly the carnage that men can cause in toilets), and to get there during your meal you my need to move your table or the table next to you. As a comparison to other restaurants offering exemplary cooking with a local feel, we much preferred our recent visits to Bistro Eleven Fifty Five in Glasgow and Whirlybird in Edinburgh, and both were cheaper too.
Where is Teal by Sally Abé
52 Wilton Way, London E8 1BG
Book a table at Teal by Sally Abé
Click here to book directly on the Teal by Sally Abé website.
