On Sunday my gorgeous friend Kirsty and I had a long overdue catch up brunch at Bistroteque and what a lovely day we had! Bistroteque is tucked away in a warehouse on Wadeson Street, just off Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green. You wouldn’t know it was there except for the noise of people chatting and eating emanating from the open windows, so be careful you don’t miss it.
The bar/restaurant has a really lovely feel to it. Its very spacious, airy and white-washed, from the tiled walls to the industrial beams and pipes coming from the ceiling. And of course, the obligatory filament bulbs.
We decided on a late ‘brunch’ as I knew I’d be hungover from Saturday night, so I arrived at 1pm and was shown to my table by the window. Before I had even sat down I ordered two Bloody Mary’s and a jug of tap water. Thank God for the tap water as that was the spiciest Bloody Mary I’d ever tasted. I had to get it diluted, just so I could finish it, but it was still delicious. They add chipotle to their Bloody Mary’s so they have a beautiful smokiness to them.
Kirsty was running a little late so the restaurant gave me a portion of quails eggs with celery salt to keep me going while I waited.
As soon as Kirsty arrived and we got the immediate chit chat out of the way, we went through the menu. By this time we were well into lunch territory but I still fancied the brunch menu more. Only problem was what to pick, I could have ordered everything, especially after seeing so many plates of incredible looking food being delivered to the tables around us.
We decided what to have for our mains but the phrase ‘Hot Fromage!’ kept leaping out of the page at us. So we decided to order this as a starter to share.
This was a little pot of melted heaven. The cheese itself is Saint-Marcellin. It was rich, creamy, runny and smelly…perfect. It didn’t actually need the toasted bread that came with it. We actually asked for teaspoons.
The only way I could make this better would to have mini chorizos to dip into it. How amazing would that be??
Then came the mains. I ordered the sautéed new potatoes, chorizo, sage and fried egg (£7.50)
I loved this. The chorizo was pretty spicy (I would have preferred the sweet, smoky chorizo as I don’t do spice well, but that’s a personal thing), and the sage was so fresh it complimented the dish beautifully. Its perfect hangover food. If I could have made any changes, it would have been for the chef to place the chorizo on some kitchen towel before plating it up as there was naturally a huge amount of oil coming from it. Topped with the fried egg, it just looked so greasy. But, hey, I’m Glaswegian, I can handle my grease.
Kirsty went for the duck hash, mushrooms and poached egg with a mustard sauce (£8.50)
I only had a bite of this but it was delicious. With added sides of portobello mushrooms and grilled tomatoes, we were soon stuffed and couldn’t eat a bite more. So we ordered raspberry bellinis and wine and continued chatting.
I absolutely LOVE lazy days where you have nothing to rush for. You can sit and chat and drink and take it easy without any time constraints.
After a while, we noticed the people sitting on the table next to us were devouring the chocolate tart with pistachio ice cream. It looked so good we had to order a portion to share between us.
This was simply beautiful. The base was short and crunchy, the chocolate was so rich and smooth with just the right amount of bitterness to it. The ice-cream was the perfect partner to it. Even better, we were advised to have an espresso martini with the pudding and it tasted incredible. I don’t think they should serve anyone the chocolate tart in the future without insisting they must have an espresso martini along with it. It was the perfect end to a fantastic meal.
We had a really wonderful Sunday afternoon at Bistroteque. Not only does it have really relaxed atmosphere which is perfect if you’re suffering from the night before, but the food is fantastic, the staff are superb and even better, the prices are a lot more favourable than the centre of London. Our waiter, Daniel, really made the afternoon for us. He was a little ray of sunshine – friendly, funny and always smiling, we loved him.
If you don’t live East, Bistroteque is really worth travelling off the beaten track for. I’ll definitely be going back soon, for the espresso martinis if for nothing else!
BISTROTEQUE
23–27 Wadeson Street, London E2 9DR
020 8983 7900 / reception@bistrotheque.com
No Comments