Eelbrook

tytania
Tue, 11 Nov 2014 15:03:26 +0000
Food Diary, London, Restaurant Reviews

This place came under the radar by recently passing by me in conversation, and the comment was more about how the service was so horrible, with no real mention of the food. I took a Google and decided to have a look, as it’s in my general neighbourhood and it’s always nice to find a new place nearby. I went with a friend of mine who is highly opinionated about restaurants as well (and most things in general), so I figured we would get a good review out of it.

The place is designed by the Haruo Morishima (who also worked with Yuatcha and Wagamama) and it is clean, simple, and stark space with an open-air side wall (with windows, in summer) to give it a bit of freshness. I was mildly irritated about the tables smashed inches from each other, making me notice a little too much of my left and right neighbours. its just too much to sit down next to someone you don’t know and here about their day. It’s like bad background music. But going forward into the cuisine, the decorum certainly matched the plating and food style, so I think all in all, it worked quite well.

We started off with two small plates and one starter. The small plate of grilled squid was both soft and charred, my preferred calamari texture. It was perfectly salty and lemon-y, whilst keeping its elegant integrity with no over complicated flavours or sauces to tear away from its stark beauty.

The Lancashire smoked eel was superb, it’s flesh soft and smoky and pleasant, and served with a little bit of horseradish cream on cute little pancakes, like a posh hors d’oeuvre served at some Duke’s house. Everything very clean and elegant.

We also tried the chicken liver and foi gras parfait, served with a crunchy chunk of dry toast. I keep seeing this on every menu and I don’t know who is copying who anymore, I actually don’t care as its a welcome find. But I also know it is really bad to eat foi gras in general, and I do agree with this…I wouldn’t do it every day. But God is this combination undeniably mouth watering, and it is done perfectly here. The portion was fit for a table of four, and we certainly were not complaining. Rich, creamy, and decedent, filling your mouth with soft squishy pleasure.

My friend had the Bavette, which was a beautifully grilled and perfectly rare in the middle, served with mushroom ketchup and caramelized onions. Simple but very strong, with powerful flavours that really worked. We also tried the purple sprouting broccoli, left to speak for itself, with excellent tasting olive oil, a touch of garlic, uber fresh, and that crunch meets softness of perfectly cooked green veg. Its all about seasonal and top quality here, with minimal cooking and paired down grace. It works.

Service was fine, none of the gossip I had heard was true, and I was really impressed with the fresh seasonal approach. And with it being very paired down, the flavour combos were classic yet at the same time new and interesting. There was a youthfulness and crispness…and I look forward to going back soon.