http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o42j8y/bacchus <b>Bacchus</b><br />London, 177 Hoxton Street, N1 6PJ, United Kingdom en http://trustedplaces.com/uploads/placepics/trustedplaces.comaPlacePic['name']}.140.jpg http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o42j8y/bacchus http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o42j8y/bacchus/1e48h7
Review by aidanbrooks

Rating: 5.00
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The question you'll be asked as you prepare to leave Bacchus is not "How was your food?" but "How was your experience?" You don't come to this converted former pub at the unfashionable end of Hoxton to satiate your hunger with good nosh - Fred Cooke's Eel & Pie shop nearby will do that. You come to Bacchus to experience an El Bulli-trained culinary genius taking your sensory perceptions to places they don't normally go, with truly amazing combinations of aroma, flavour, colour, texture and temperature. It's an inevitable yet ironic consequence of the friendly and unsnobbish "fine dining with trainers" ethos of the place that some visitors simply don't get what it's about. But leading restaurant critics, chefs and countless foodies have already confirmed what I knew within minutes of my first visit ⬠that Nuno Mendes is one of the best and most creative chefs working in Britain today. There's only so long I can go without experiencing pleasures like parmesan bread cooked à la minute, nitrous rose water and mackerel cooked at such a low temperature that it melts like butter on the tongue, so I was really looking forward to paying a visit during a brief holiday break back in my home city.

Reviewers seem a bit obsessed with sous-vide cooking, but the truth is that the team at Bacchus use a panoply of equipment and techniques to arrive at their product. And if there's anything new to be tried, Nuno will be the first to experiment. Hence the tasting menu is constantly evolving, to the point where it's not unknown for a dish to change during the course of a service. On my visit last week, the White Chocolate Mousse had definitely taken on some components that were not on the menu. Amongst the evening's highlights for me were â¬SOyster and Onions Old but Newâ¬]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:24:56 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1o42j8y/bacchus/1e48h71807322561 aidanbrooks 51.531906 -0.080202 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o42j8y/bacchus/1x42y8
Review by Browners

Rating: 4.00
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Inspired by Marina O'Loughlin, we made decided to trek out to Shoreditch to sample boil in the bag cooking East End Style. At 8 the smart dining area seemed disturbingly empty but soon filled up with noisy locals and keen foodies, eager to see what all the fuss was about.

Service ranged from naïve to expert as the owner/head waiter taught his fresh staff on the job. The freshly baked bread was the best we had eaten all year even though we had to add our own salt to give it a bit of zing.

Starters were sublime; Scallops cooked sous vide with a subtle cauliflower puree were delicious if a little bit like a Foxton's home too beige and a bit homogenous; calamari gently warmed for a day or so were the most tender rings of squid any of us had ever had the pleasure to eat; and my duck cannelloni was beautifully textured if a little bit low on flavour. This was a theme with the meat throughout our meal fish was brilliant sous vide, meat wasn't& my rare steak was plain dull whereas the halibut was sensationally juicy with flesh that was firm but fell apart if you gave it an intense glare.

The highlight of the meal was the range of foamy deserts. Cinnamon pie with apple air and Malden was outrageously weird, assaulting my taste buds with such veracity that I could only laugh deliriously. Having eaten at the Fat Duck it's safe to say that Heston is safe in Bray for the time being, however Bacchus was much more fun and I'd love to return.]]> Wed, 06 Jun 2007 20:21:03 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1o42j8y/bacchus/1x42y81371024451 Browners 51.531906 -0.080202 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o42j8y/bacchus/1j02s9
Review by freddie5540

Rating: 2.00
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After having had problems finding the 'pub' that is bacchus we settled into a cosy dining room. Despite our table having one leg shorter than the others, we ordered some house cocktails and felt excited about the prospect of a 'sous'vide' meal. I was dining with chef with lots of experience in this field of cooking. We opted for the 9 course tasting menu with wines to accompany each course. The cocktails arrived, or should i say bizarre foams. The taste was not unpleasant but it was a £5.00 drink that dissolved in the mouth in seconds.

The food followed and it was all abit of a disaster! Sous vide cookery means that the protein in each dish is never taken much higher than 60 degrees so as not too coagulate and loose vital juices. However i dont think any of our food was served above 35 degrees. Plates we often noted were cold, only bringing down the already low temperature of the food. The salmon dish was a textural dream but most other combinations were very bizarre. My friend who has dined in some of Spain's finest sous-vide restaurants and described Bacchus as 'way of the mark'.

Its an interesting idea for a pub in a starnge setting but at over £400 for four of us, i would rather have gone elsewhere. We did drink some interseting wines with our food and were served by friendly staff, but for that money its not enough for me.]]> Fri, 11 May 2007 14:07:27 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1o42j8y/bacchus/1j02s9936014972 freddie5540 51.531906 -0.080202 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o42j8y/bacchus/1h62e8
Review by Alexandermoore

Rating: 4.00
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Great dining experience in a great atmosphere]]> Wed, 09 May 2007 12:27:32 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1o42j8y/bacchus/1h62e8915302998 Alexandermoore 51.531906 -0.080202 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1o42j8y/bacchus/1c0219
Review by sue

Rating: 4.00
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Our long awaited evening at Bacchus arrived. Initially we were a little put-off by the surrounding area, but once inside this beautifully decorated former pub we felt very welcome. Warmly greeting our dining companions, we ordered a bottle of Italian sparkling and toasted to their upcoming nuptials.

The atmosphere at Bacchus suffered a bit due to only two other tables of two dining on this quiet Tuesday night. The service however was very friendly and helpful throughout the evening. The wine list had one of the most unusual selections I have seen in a while, though we managed to select a decent bottle of Chianti Classico Riserva.

The restaurant specialised in the Sous-vide method of cooking, which involves vacuum sealing the meat/fish and slow cooking for hours. This means that all of the flavour is contained within the food and it just melts in your mouth. Our meal was inventive and delicious, with the highlight being the Lamb Shoulder (from the tasting menu which they happily agreed to serve as a main course) which melted like butter in your mouth.

The chef came over to have a chat with us after seeing my reaction to the 'surprise' wasabi which was part of my dessert!
]]> Wed, 02 May 2007 09:15:31 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1o42j8y/bacchus/1c02191896556739 sue 51.531906 -0.080202