My friend Mark is a fussy eater. He favours crunchy, dry or well-cooked foods. He is repelled by rare meats and goo. There are three rules to follow when cooking for Mark: no blood, no egg and not too spicy. One look at the menu at Test Kitchen Tuesdays and I could see that this was going to be a test in more ways than one.
Test Kitchen Tuesdays is a fun concept by Craft London to get customer feedback on dishes that are in development, giving the chefs a chance to experiment with new techniques or ingredients and the customers a unique opportunity to be a part of the creative process.
We started the evening with a few cocktails in the bar above the restaurant. The 360 curved plexy glass gave a colourful, if slightly warped, view of the 02, Canary Wharf and Greenwich Peninsula. It's a lovely venue and more interesting than any of the other options nearby. For cocktails you can have a twist on a classic (a Craft G&T for me, please) or a new invention. Just scanning the drinks menu, the restaurant's ethos became clear - an emphasis on seasonal, local and, where possible, house-made or even house-grown ingredients (more on that later).
Downstairs in the restaurant we were given a notepad and pens for our feedback. I felt a bit guilty knowing that I would fill out both mine and Mark's, ask for more... and then take them home with me.
First up was a house made yoghurt with rhubarb puree, celery and mustard seeds. The cominations worked well - the yogurt was rich and creamy, the rhubarb had sweet and tangy strawberry notes and the celery added freshness and crunch – but it wasn't quite savoury enough to begin a meal. Perhaps a little olive oil and salt would have helped. But I’d still rather have it for breakfast.
I was much more impressed by the house made breads and butter that accompanied it. The butter was uncultured, lending it an almost parmesan-like flavour. Divine.
Cuttlefish / Jerusalem Artichoke are two ingredients I wouldn't have thought to marry. The winner here was the rich and creamy artichoke puree, at once sweet and savoury with a remarkable depth of flavour. Unfortunately, the cuttlefish didn't quite stand up to it, but it was perfectly cooked - soft and tender - adding a nice textural counterpoint to the Jerusalem artichokes, which came both pureed and crisped. I only wish the whole dish had been served hot.
Mark was a bit nervous about the next dish, Halibut / Crab / Egg, but it turned out that egg = mayonnaise and an egg-based pancake. No goo in sight. The waiter told us that the dish was based on a Japanese street food called okonominyaki, a savoury pancake topped with any ingredients you fancy. In this case, house-smoked halibut, cabbage, spring onion, mayonnaise and house-made ketchup.
The pancake was a bit too doughy for my liking, but the toppings were fantastic. The halibut was both delicate (melt in the mouth soft) and robust (smoky); the cabbage and spring onion added crunch and freshness; mayo and ketchup rounded things off with creaminess and acidity.
The least successful dish for me was the Turnip / Hottentot Fig / Broccoli. It could work as a side dish, but I don't think it worked as a dish in it's own right. The sweet and sour pickled figs were the most interesting part, the purple sprouting broccoli came steamed and the turnip poached. We were told that the dish was dressed in buttermilk, though I couldn't really taste it. Perhaps the dish would work better if the turnips were poached in the buttermilk, or with a sauce or some different textures.
We were won back by the next dish, Gravy / Sourdough / Sloe. Crispy sourdough croutons drenched in a rich, fatty, salty gravy with loads of rosemary. I never would have thought that would work as a standalone dish. I was wrong. A touch of tartness from the sloe berries and sourdough counterbalances the richness of the gravy. It was Mark’s favourite dish of the night and it was almost mine as well.
It's a close call, but my favourite was the Venison / Fermented Mushroom / Mustard Leaf. The venison was perfectly cooked – rare and tender in the centre, seared edges salty and gamey. It was well balanced with the acidity of the fermented mushroom and complemented by their umami-rich flavour. But best of all was the pairing with the mustard leaves - it was like having hot English mustard on the side, but in leaf form; peppery and spicy, but also light and fresh.
Mark was disappointed by Chocolate / Buttermilk because it was “not chocolatey enough”. Fair enough - he has a sweet tooth, but as someone who prefers savoury foods I liked the bitter and malty flavour of the dehydrated chocolate mousse and I think it worked well with the lemony, buttermilk sorbet (though I would have preferred ice cream).
I was looking forward to the final dish, Potato Doughnut / Carrot Curd. I like doughnuts in any way, shape or form and this didn't disappoint. Lighter than expected and with an interesting savoury element, it contrasted well with the thick and buttery caramel and tangy carrot curd.
At the end of the meal we were invited to take a tour of the kitchen. They talked us through the state of the art equipment and showed us their curing room, where a chef was lovingly tending to a leg of ham that will not be ready for another year at least. We ended up back in the bar where we began. The waiter pointed out the flowerbeds and parkland where they grow many of their herbs, spices and aromatics. They also have bee hives, a coffee roaster, a tandoor, a smoker and wood-fired oven, where they bake that glorious sourdough, among other things.
Test Kitchen Tuesdays is perhaps not the best night on which to judge the restaurant for the first time. There were as many misses as hits, but that is surely the point of testing out the dishes. Reaching out and asking customers for feedback is just another example of how far they are willing to go to get things right.
The restaurant is aptly named – they recognise that good food is a craft that takes time and patience. It is a labour of love. Their experiments are far better than anything I have eaten in this part of town before. I will certainly be back to try the real thing.