94 Commercial St
London, E1 6LZ
Nearest Transport: Aldgate East
020 7247 8724
Housed in the former bank building which now contains a bakery and an open bar and kitchen, St John Bread & Wine is owned by the people behind the now famous St John restaurant in St John Street. Bread & Wine, opposite Spitalfields Market, is open every day early until late supplying wines, breads and food to eat in or to take home.
My friend and I decided to slink in here one day for a quiet Sunday dinner while nursing hangovers and were pretty impressed. Granted, this may have been a dangerous call as a restaurant known for the assortment of animal parts on their menu and a hangover don't seem to go together, but it worked out well.
The menu changes daily with a variety of starters (great for sharing) and a couple of main options. They sell the bread to take way and it is well worth buying too.
First up, I found the service charming especially as we were asking lots of questions in an attempt to figure out exactly what part of the animal was being served. And we got to try some dessert for free! (but couldn’t fit in anything else after our sample)
I can't remember the details of the food but here is a summary. We shared four starter plates and one main) Cuttle fish: (Really tasty. Generous portion.) Quail: (I didn't really try this as its pinky purple flesh scared me. Maybe this is the right colour but my hangover wouldn't let me try it) Pork belly bits (I forget its proper name: Really moreish. We ate these until we felt ill. And then ate some more.) Blood cake and poached duck egg: (Pretty tasty but we had a fair bit of this left over as you can only eat so much blood.) Venison (main): (Nice and succulent)
We shied away from the more 'scary' animail bits such as heart, but they are meant to do that really well if you like that sort of thing.
After viewing the limited menu choices on the internet I was rather dubious about visiting this restaurant when I was invited by a client. But am I glad I did eat here the food was succulent and tasty.
The restaurant is the brainchild of Fergus Henderson who wrote the book "Nose to tail Eating". The restaurant emphasis is firmly on meat including internal organs. That can sound rather disgusting to some but the way it is cooked has proved a hit with diners.
The menu is served at various times starting with breakfast at 9am. From midday the daily menu offers pigs head (recommended by fellow diner), jellied ham, razor clams, oxtail, ox heart etc. I ordered the lamb shank, wonderfully tasty, which fell off the bone & a side order of purple sprouting broccili in vinaigrette. The razor clams were delicious & good enough for a non seafood eater to want to try one!! We ended with chocolate cake which was moist & tasty as well as wheat free.
The restaurant has its own bakery and the fresh bread was moreish. The concept in this restaurant is you can just purchase a bottle of wine & bread to take home.
For 14-16 people they can arrange for a whole sucking pig to be roasted & served up at the table costing GBP320 comes with potatoes & greens.
I found the menu to be very reasonably priced and the staff friendly. Service can be a little slow though. Make sure you book & be aware specials are limited so they get taken off the board when finished.
Loading...
Add your comment
Post to facebook
Share with friends
(2/2 found this review helpful)
