The Clove Club

Edgy modern British dining

Burnt clementine granita

2017 has been a fantastic year for The Clove Club, long only it has retained its Michelin star status, it is now also the highest ranked UK restaurant in the "World 50 best restaurants" award from the influential trade media, Restaurant Magazine, ranked higher than the like of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and The Ledbury. Combing with its fashionable location in Shoreditch and the media hype, booking is high in demand and it becomes one of the very first UK restaurants to employ a new booking system which diners have to pay in advance in order to secure a booking. This can be annoying for some as sometimes things don't always go according to plan. However, the payment in advance rule only applies to dinner and you can book for lunch without the hassle.  

Buttermilk Fried Chicken & Pine Salt, Warm Haggis Buns

Crispy chicken feets

Scallop, hazelnut, truffle

Cornish sardine with worcestershire sauce

Seabass, artichoke, malted barley

We opted for the tasting menu and went for the white truffle upgrade as an extra course. The raw Orkney scallop was simply sensational, it was rich and melting with a creative combination of hazelnut and clementine, it was a dish with big flavours but managed to be light at the same time. The supplement truffle course, a risotto with a goat and kale sauce with shaved white truffle, was a slight disappointment. The creamy and earthy flavours of the risotto offered a fine balance already and the white truffle really didn't add anything extra to the dish, at £40 extra, it just wasn't worth it. The smoked lamb ribs with seaweed was a fun looking dish with a big aroma, the lamb was loaded with so many robust flavours and I would happily eat another 10 more of those. The final savoury dish was the roasted Fallow deer, moist and tender and seasoned perfectly, but I was not too sure about the pumpkin as the sweetness was pretty over-powering to the meat.

Risotto of oat groats, kale and white truffle

Smoked lamb ribs, mint and seaweed jelly

Roast Fallow deer, pumpkin polenta

Caramel ice cream and potato

The risk of a tasting menu is that is rare that you will find every single dishes enjoyable, as that was the case at The Clove Club, there are some great tasting dishes but some average ones at the same time. The whole menu had its up and down, but what really got me excited about the menu is some very unusual elements, when they managed to work, it creates some very interesting and strange flavours that really got you wondering about the logic of taste, such as the potato dessert. The bill came to £170 per person with just water, which is a sky-high cost, thanks to the truffle course. I have learned my lesson, always think twice before going for a supplement!


Food 4/5

Executive chef: 
Isaac McHale

What I paid: 
£170 pp with water

Average cost without drinks and services:
£110 tasting menu

Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old St, London EC1V 9LT

https://thecloveclub.com/