Sohaila, London: ‘It’s charming, the food is great’ – restaurant review

‘What matters is the sprightliness of the food and the cheeriness with which it is delivered’: Sohaila, Shoreditch, London. Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Observer

Sohaila, 232 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6PJ. Small plates £4-£9, larger plates £11-£15, desserts £7, wines from £32

We live in desperate times. The Nusr-Et Steakhouse in Knightsbridge, famed for its hyper-expensive gold leaf-wrapped steaks has, according to the hospitality industry website Code, had to abandon using gold leaf. Just as with chickpeas and vegetable oil, there are supply-chain issues. So now they’re just flogging stupidly expensive steaks without any precious metals at all. Where’s the joy in that? They don’t even have that Salt Bae bloke, the one with the shades and the signature salting move, like Rod Hull’s Emu, “bare naked and disgracing himself by vomiting down his own neck” (yes, I’m quoting myself; I can’t improve upon that). He’s at one of his 15 other restaurants, where they are still pointlessly, performatively wrapping steaks in gold leaf so rich people can hate themselves just a little bit more.