Planque

Hippy wine club restaurant

Lobster tartine

Haggerston surely is going to be the next hipster dining destination. Many modern fine dining restaurants are popping up there, the none tablecloth, staff wearing trainers types place... places that look 'cool' and 'edgy' but easily set you back over £100 per person. Planque is a wine club that has a restaurant offering with the same name, it serves modern French-style food in the mood of Bright and Leroy. Headed up by chef Seb Myers. It is hard to go wrong with quality wine and fine French food, given the early positive reviews it has gathered, I opted to give it a go and was lucky to get a table, as it appears it is starting to become rather popular with all the praises it has been getting on social media.

Cockles, cabbage

Duck offal, black peper

The dishes at Planque are designed for sharing as most dishes are starter sizes. The lobster tartine on bread looked appealing but the sauce failed to impress, it contained too much vinegar which was not needed as it kind of overpowered the sweetness of the lobster. The hispi cabbage with cockles was an interesting dish, the cockles were cooked perfectly, and the citrus tone combined everything really well, it was almost like a refreshing seafood salad. The lamb racks dish was the best piece of cooking of the evening for me. It was seasoned to perfection, had a lovely smoky aroma and the sweetness of the pumpkin worked really well with the super tender meat.

Steamed brill, vin jaune

Lamb rack, pumpkin, anchovies

I enjoyed my meal at Planque overall, but I failed to understand why it is getting so much hype. Based on the cost of the dishes, there are many places that are just as good, if not better across London for me. It was good modern French food but nothing more for me, and I did find the wine was pretty standard, again nothing wrong with the wine but I would expect a wine club could offer some really special wine at an affordable cost. For £100 including wine, I would say both Behind and Lyles which are both close by would deliver better cooking at a similar price.

Food 3/5


Average cost without drinks and services:
£60

322-324 Acton Mews, London E8 4EA

https://planque.co.uk/