It was John’s turn to choose and my turn to pay. We had arranged the date some weeks before, so when the Sunday came around and I still hadn’t received joining instructions from John, I wondered – by SMS in John’s direction – whether the evening was still on.
Leave it with me…
…said John, followed not all that long after by a message that read:
Brat.
A bit harsh on my character, I thought. I was only trying, politely, to confirm the arrangements.
But John didn’t mean “brat” as an assessment of my character, he meant BRAT Restaurant in Shoreditch, a high-class Basque food place.
John’s follow up messages clarified the arrangements and suggested that we meet an hour before the restaurant booking, as he had secured a cocktail booking at The Umbrella Workshop, an interesting cross between a shop, a tastings venue and a bar, hidden away in an old workshop alley not far from BRAT.
The Umbrella Project
Superb cocktails, both the alcoholic and the non-alcoholic ones. I’d quite like to try the alcoholic cocktails there, perhaps one day after taking some food without any other form of alcohol.
I did taste John’s cocktail – an exotic and really quite amazing variation on an old fashioned. This place really does, seriously do cocktails. It is very small and very friendly. Further, if you like ska, rock steady and reggae, then the play list will be for you.
Highly recommended. You have to book – it’s technically a tasting venue so you can only enter by pre-arrangement. Click here for their website – multiple venues.
BRAT
Then on to BRAT. Super place, located above the Smoking Goat. Here is a link to the sample menu, which is similar to the menu we saw on our evening there.
The place is renowned for its large sharing turbot dish, but we eschewed that one in favour of trying several different things. The helpful waitress recommended four starters and two mains plus sides to share, which was spot on.
We started with:
- Fresh Chorizo
- Spider Crab Toast
- Young Leeks, Walnut & Fresh Cheese
- Velvet Crab Soup
I cannot eat walnuts, but John really fancied the leek & walnut dish. Soup doesn’t share easily, so we agreed to go for two sharing options plus a bespoke starter each.
For mains and sides, we had:
- Brill ‘pil-pil’ with Cockles
- John Dory
- Smoked Potatoes;
- Wood Roasted Greens.
All of the above dishes were amazingly good. John and I debated at length whether we thought the brill or the John Dory the better dish. Both were exquisite and quite different in style. The brill dish slightly spicy, the John Dory more citrus-tangy.
The headline photo shows John with the spider crab toast.
We also shared a bottle of Basque wine: Gorrondona, Txakoli de Getaria, Pais Basco, Spain 2020. It complemented the food well.
We had a great evening. Well chosen John. BRAT.