Acme Fire Cult — Restaurant in London

Down a industrial estate which looks like a road to nowhere, Everything on the plate is sustainable, traceable and there for a reason. Each dish is incredibly well thought out and executed and the veggies are the star of the show (although the pork chop was delicious) Menu divided into snacks, small and large plates and food is delivered sharing style, to the table as and when it's ready (rather than in courses) menu changes very regularly depending on what is in season. It is recommended you order one plate from each section per person, plus sides, but this will depend on appetite. Outside is more intimate, with shared bench seating and you are with the grills and smokers so expect to get a bit smokey and ashy as you watch the chefs create your food, inside in more formal but for me you lose some of the experience. Definitely book, they can only seat 100 and it gets very busy. Dishes are on the fancy side and what is written on the menu is exactly what you get (so when it says pork chop, you get a pork chop, nothing else) side dishes such as potatoes and veg are £6 extra each. We had 2 snacks (the pickles and ferments plate - very interesting but needed bread of crackers with it , and the (almost too buttery) 'marmite' toast which comes covered in a drift of pecorino cheese), 1 small (the English ricotta with fermented garlic honey and tiny pearl red peppers, served with sourdough- my favourite dish (every was stunning) but needed more bread, as it only comes with 1 slice) and 1 large plate (Tamworth pork chop (served beautifully pink) with mojo rojo and a side of wood roasted pink fir apple potatoes) for an early supper between 2 (we were regularly encouraged to order more food but this was just enough for us) and the bill with 12.5% optional service and a £1 charity donation was £72 including 2 half pints of beer from the brewery opposite. Filtered water (still or sparkling) is only £1 with free refils and tap water is also available foc, and there is also a carefully considered wine and...

Very much a destination restaurant, one that is worth making an effort to visit. If you do, book in advance. We visited on a busy Saturday evening, and it was packed.

Acme Fire Cult is at the end of a shabby alleyway in the backstreets of Dalston, nestled in with the Dusty Knuckle baker and the 40-Foot brewery. There are industrial containers, a hodgepodge of wooden construction that flies in the face of crisp linen pretentiousness. Acme Fire Cult puts the fun back into dining. A laid-back atmosphere where friendly, welcoming staff promote the enjoyment of food, not revelry in gastronomic detail where the height of a dish is as important as an exquisitely placed flower petal. The food goes from an outside grill, onto a plate and to the table. The restaurant is in two parts: a covered outside and an indoors area. Given the proximity to the 40-Foot breweries tap yard, the indoor area proved to be quieter as things get busier outside.

The menu changes regularly. Standout dishes for us were the fermented pumpkin, bavette, char grilled cabbage, and pork. All dishes were perfectly cooked. The fat on the pork was rendered nicely and was tasty. The weakest dish was probably the wagyu steak. The menu gave little detail on the provenance of this, and I’m not certain the style of cooking in Acme Fire Cult suits this cut. It was a small portion, still tasty, but did not justify the price premium. The sauces that came with the dishes were superb; we could happily have sat there eating the loaf of sourdough (from Dusty Knuckle) with them. It is probably important to note that the plates arrive at the table when they are ready. For us, the starters arrived first but overlapped with the arrival of the mains and all are meant to be shared. The wine list was extensive, with a few unusual options, including a nice Sauternes to match the deserts. And it was the strawberries on the cheesecake that most clearly underlined the quality of produce in Acme Fire Cult.

Overall, not just great food, but a...

Man, this restaurant really sold itself as something special, but it was so utterly mediocre and memorable in a profoundly unpleasant way.

I chose this restaurant because the website made it seem like an ideal place for me, a vegan, to enjoy a delicious meal with my non-vegan partner. When I asked the host what was vegan on the menu, they scoffed, walked away, and then laughed with the chef about it. I fail to comprehend why that would be their reaction, especially as the establishment promotes itself as a veggie-loving haven.

I kind of knew I regretted this meal before we even received our food, due to our peculiar interaction with the server. We weren’t informed that the menu was “coursed” because there were no labels, and no one told us. When I tried to order something from the bottom of the menu as a starter, the server looked at us as if we were mad. She also somewhat coerced us into ordering more food than we originally intended.

Here’s what we had:

The cauliflower was cold, devoid of spice, peanut taste, or any flavour for that matter, super oily, and lacked salt. The beets were decent but desperately needed salt. The potatoes were inedibly oily and, unsurprisingly, lacked salt. I found them inedible, how do you mess up a potato?! The greens were also soaked and swimming in oil, and yes, they too lacked salt. For £29, the chicken lacked salt, and for that price, I could feed a family an entire chicken.

We asked one of the people working for some salt, and they responded with, “Well, everything is seasoned already.” I understand why a chef might say that, but if I’m paying a considerable amount of money, I expect salt without any snide remarks. Salt enhances food; it isn’t a flavour in itself.

In short, this restaurant was a disappointment. It promised much but delivered very little, making it an experience to remember for all the...