East End Review

Tag: Food and Drink

  • Bones review: ‘Remarkably understated and un-gimmicky for Shoreditch’

    Burrata with basil oil, chili flakes and sourdough bread. Photograph courtesy of Bones
    Burrata with basil oil, chili flakes and sourdough bread. Photograph courtesy of Bones

    Shoreditch has an excellent new eating and drinking hole to wrap your chops round.

    You won’t find fussy dishes with overbearing flavours here. As the name suggests, the menu is stripped back to good quality meat, fish and vegetables gently seasoned and put together with light touch and an artist’s eye.

    The pigeon salad is outstanding. Delicate slices of meat teamed with hazelnuts and vegetable crisps on bright green leaves. It’s short and sweet, with a perfectly judged combination of textures and flavours. I could happily have eaten it all evening.

    Then there’s a plump chunk of burrata to tear sumptuous little mouthfuls off. The creamy mozzarella-like cheese would be beautiful on its own, but the splash of basil oil and scattering of chilli flakes and wafer of sourdough elevates it to glory.

    Keeping it nice and light, we tried a lovely plate of sautéed baby squid thrown around in a pan with potatoes and cherry tomatoes. The chilli warms without burning and the lemon brightens each bite, pulling all the flavours neatly together.

    At the heart of the menu is the ‘Bones’ section, offering everything from sirloin to salmon and including a stew from Provence made with pearl barley and chicken that sounded wonderful.

    We went with a rack of lamb in a fragile herb crust with some braised baby gem that was great and the garlicky bowl of rosemary roast potatoes that came with it were even better.

    Another highlight is the aubergine, thinly sliced and gently roasted, then topped with bright blood-red sequins of pomegranate seeds. Another well-judged dressing, this time with chilli and tahini, which adds a nutty layer of flavour and is topped off with a scattering of feta that cuts cleanly across the palate.

    Remarkably understated and un- gimmicky for Shoreditch, Bones combines great food with an potent cocktails and is the perfect night out for dates, mates and lates.

    Bones 52 Kingsland Road, London E2 8DP 020 7033 9008 

  • Dishoom – review

    Taste of Bombay? A Dishoom bacon naan roll
    Taste of Bombay? A Dishoom bacon naan roll

    There isn’t much that beats a fiery Bloody Mary first thing on a cold rainy morning. By the same stroke there isn’t much worse than a disappointing one.

    I’ve had some that tasted like a glass full of watery ketchup, some that tried to be way too clever and many where whoever made it can perhaps only ever have seen a picture of one and tried to make it based on that.

    At Dishoom, a Bombay cafe in the heart of Shoreditch, they’re cold and refreshing, the recipe made with tequila instead of vodka, which gives them a bright and zesty flavour. I can advocate having two of them as you peruse a breakfast menu that is bursting with excellence.

    I felt compelled to try the bacon naan because I’ve heard a lot of hype. Believe it. Warm, freshly baked soft bread, chargrilled bacon and a chilli tomato jam to sweeten the mouthful and brighten the palate. Cream cheese
    and fresh herbs elevates each mouthful to brilliance.

    We also tried the akuri: spicy scrambled eggs whacked on ‘fire toast’ – soft white bread chucked on the grill – and served up with an oven-roasted vine of sweet cherry tomatoes. It too was excellent.

    ‘Cafe’ might be a bit misleading for this sophisticated joint, but does resonate with the relaxed atmosphere of the place. Breezy and open-plan with fans idling on the ceiling, it’s the kind of place you could easily while away a morning watching people streak past on the busy high street outside the window.

    If daytimes at Dishoom are tranquil, night time certainly isn’t. I’d seen the dinner menu and was curious to see what it was like so headed back a week later.

    You can’t book and there’s a queue in the bar and out of the door practically all night. And that’s no surprise. It’s stylish, the food is exceptionally good and the atmosphere is buzzing. Get down there as soon as possible.

    Dishoom Shoreditch, 7 Boundary Street, E2 7JE

  • Merchants Tavern – review

    Roast loin of venison with braised red cabbage and sprout tops. Photograph: Patricia Niven
    Roast loin of venison with braised red cabbage and sprout tops. Photograph: Patricia Niven

    This may be the first time I’ve been seduced by a restaurant’s furnishings before putting anything in my mouth. Like a boozy sojourn into Don Draper’s Mad Men, I loved the low slung leather seats, the discreet little booths and intimate lighting at Merchants Tavern.

    It’s a joint venture between culinary power couple Neil Borthwick and Angela Hartnett, and needless to say it’s exceptionally good, knocking the ball out of the park at every single level.

    The cocktails will blow your mind. We tried the Old Street Fashioned – a sleek tumbler mixed with ten-year old French brandy that hit an empty stomach with a glorious buzz, and the Jane Shores Sour, a pretty little glass of pale yellow with a delicate curl of lemon rind on top.

    Gliding to the table after the fortifying sharpeners, we made short shrift of some deep fried oysters with a zingy garnish of ginger and chilli – the crust crisped to perfection and the meat inside beautifully soft. The raw version, which comes with pickled cucumber and buerre blanc sauce was also divine and dispatched rapidly.

    Next up more cocktails, and this time we tried the Ezra St Runner, made with rum, mint and lime juice, sweetened with agave syrup and rinsed with absinthe. That’s right. Rinsed with absinthe.

    The ham hock ravioli with buttered cabbage in chicken broth was out of this world. A delicate disk of pasta with beautifully flavoured and tender meat tucked inside – the simplicity was deceptive.

    And the quail, so often proving a battle to extricate a mouthful from millions of tiny bones. Here the meat was so juicy and tender it must be cooked on the bone and then pan fried to crisp up the skin. There’s a square of fried fois grois to deepen the flavour, hazelnut pesto and a flick of salty reduction that is just perfectly judged.

    On to mains and a beautiful piece of pollock with a crunchy sourdough breadcrumb crust. The fish came resting in a delicate emulsion made from sorrel and lettuce that’s feather-light and spring-like in its flavours without being in any way intrusive.

    The Jacob’s Ladder – or short ribs – was also cooked to perfection. The tenderness of the meat went beautifully with the slight bite of the lentils, with capers and dill giving it a nice earthy flavour.

    If the menu looks slightly out of range, there’s a lunch deal for £18 or three for £22 that are definitely worth checking out. The staff are incredibly lovely and know the menu backwards, the food is exquisite and the drinks will knock your socks off.

    Merchants Tavern
    36 Charlotte Road, EC2A 3PG