BISTROTHEQUE — Restaurant in London

Bistrotheque's a perennial favourite in our house. Sarah and Russell used to go when they were living in a tiny flat next door, splashing their graduate wages on fine food. Ashley always takes his parents there whenever they visit, and I have a thing for steak tartare.

So it seemed only fair to take P there as a further introduction to the culinary delights of Bethnal Green. We stopped off at Sager + Wilde Restaurant for drinks beforehand and then, three whisky cocktails down, tottered up the road to Wadeson Street. Bistrotheque is tucked away down a small road in a non-descript warehouse that you'll probably walk past the first time you go. Enter the unmarked door and turn straight up the concrete stairs, push through the industrial double doors and bask in the chaotic calm that is the all white and windows restaurant.

Bistrotheque feels how I imagine a Brooklyn loft restaurant to feel. It's a sizeable open space but it feels intimate as tables are close together, the atmosphere buzzy. Sit up at the square bar while waiting for your table, martini made with Hackney gin or vodka in hand. Then pass by the open kitchen where the industrious chefs plate up dish after dish and the friendliest, smiliest waiters (also in whites) bustle back and forth with a practised calm.

The food's 'Modern European' which I feel can cover a multitude of sins but here, there are few. The still-warm bread and butter while you're mulling over the wine menu (Old and New World, naturally) is a good start. As were the large grilled prawns in garlic butter with bone marrow which I managed to devour in double quick time - the sweet meat of the shellfish rounded up by the richness of the marrow. Plenty of sauce for dipping, too. P had the crab - a glorious combination of brown and white meat with ample citrusy bite.

For mains, my ever-predictable order of steak tartare was no surprise. Well-prepared with the fresh zing of the mustard, the salt of the capers and no need for the Tabasco on the table, it was served classic with frites. P didn't order so well this time, choosing the burrata, truffle and shallot tart which sounded promising but only delivered on the onion and nothing else. Thank goodness for generous girlfriends sharing.

Then came cheese - Riseley, Turnworth and Cashel Blue served with quince jelly oatcakes (discarded) and smothered onto more bread from the kitchen. As a massive cheese fiend, these were all delicious (predictably) and P was impressed (big thumbs up from the resident Frenchie).

We finished the night with an espresso martini for me and the cognac for P before heading for nightcaps at Peg + Patriot. Another night at Bistrotheque well spent. Four and a half...

Last Saturday morning, having squeezed through the hordes of Broadway market goers basking in this new concept called sun, we walked around the corner to embrace the calmness of Bistrotheque. It is amusing coming off Cambridge Heath Road into loads of warehouses and the only indication of a restaurant being the other people walking around lost and stumbling in mechanics and sketchy art galleries. Situated upstairs in an unmarked building, the Bistrotheque room sits below a very light and airy white vaulted warehouse ceiling with frosted windows. Assumedly the windows in place so the riff-raff still walking round these parts (everyone knows the crazy guy with a high-vis jacket who stalks people by Frockney Rebel) don’t start to lob empty cans of Skol at the candle lit windows.

The atmosphere is relaxed in a smart way – you don’t find many places with white table cloths round these parts but the brunch menu was very fairly priced, probably similar to most bigger dishes you will find on the Broadway market stalls. I started with a Bloody Mary – and Bistro managed to break a cardinal BM rule of doing a tiny bit too much by adding chipotle spices – a BM should not taste like an Old El Passo fajita, however different or unique that might make it. They also served a home made lemonade that was so sharp it could have been used to sear off ulcers, in a good way.

However the duck hash with poached egg more than made up for the smokey mary. The hash was crisp with a decent helping of large chunks of duck, it came topped with a poached egg and was finished with a mustard sauce, the only tiny let down of the dish being this slightly favourless, tepid sauce. It should have also come with mushrooms, but given that I deplore fungus I opted to forgo it. Even without this the dish was a very tasty breakfast, not dissimilar to the Duck and Waffle, except a billion times cheaper. My girlfriend opted for a blueberry pancakes with mascarpone. These were huge, frisbee sized pancakes which upgraded the richness of cream with the richness of a creamy cheese, well played.

The restaurant service is smart, all ipads and table cloth scraping but it is a pleasant place and definitely worth a visit with the evening menu looking pretty special. It isn’t cheap, but this is definitely somewhere to go when you have won some money or the parents are paying or you are planning on proposing to your mistress...

Always Bistrotheque is taking us to our happiest moments in London. It’s like a must when we travel, is the place where I like to meet all my people and have a really nice meal.

Walking into this restaurant is like stepping into a gorgeous living room filled with the smell of something delicious on the stove. From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with genuine warmth, that makes you feel like you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

The atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming, the piano master it’s just creating the best atmosphere for a perfect brunch, just the right mix of comfort and charm. Whether you’re coming in solo for a nice meal or bringing your whole crew, it somehow adapts to what you need.

Now, the food—absolutely incredible. Also the drinks of course, cocktails professionals are running the bar, and about the coffee, no way, it’s clearly one of the best natural coffee flavors I had in this city, ever. Everything feels thoughtfully prepared, like someone in the back actually cares (because clearly, they do). The flavors are perfectly balanced, the ingredients fresh, and the portions generous without being overwhelming. It’s the kind of food that hits both your stomach and your soul. You can tell there’s love behind every plate and every drink.

It’s rare to find a place where everything just works—the people, the atmosphere. But this spot manages to do it effortlessly. We don’t just leave full; We leave happy. And we always find ourselves counting down the days until we can come back and meet up there all together again.

Highly recommend—for the food, for the drinks, yes, but also for that nice people who is running this business that makes us feel every time...