I've visited plenty of restaurants in buildings with interesting histories, including former bank vaults, fish markets, and cooperages.
But, until a few weeks ago, I'd never eaten dinner in a working clothes factory.
Located in Walthamstow, Black Horse Lane Ateliers is London’s only craft jeans factory. However, the building leads a double life because on weekends it transforms into SlowBurn, a vegetable focused pop-up restaurant.
It would be easy to scoff at this as an east London hipster cliché. But, I’m all in favour of both eating less meat and maximising the use of urban space. It's also rather cool eating dinner in a dining room surrounded by sewing machines, rolls of fabric, and other random bits of equipment.
SlowBurn’s menu of sharing plates consists of vegetarian starters and mains which are split between veggie and meat. We constructed a meal for four with just a single meat dish, in part because they'd sold out of their delicious sounding smoked chicken.
Excellent soft crumbed sourdough (£1.50 per person) was accompanied by a slightly weird crystalline butter which lacked the billed seasoning of garlic and thyme. I would have guessed it was non-dairy but it wasn’t.
Excellent soft crumbed sourdough (£1.50 per person) was accompanied by a slightly weird crystalline butter which lacked the billed seasoning of garlic and thyme. I would have guessed it was non-dairy but it wasn’t.
Uber-crisp panko-crumbed cauliflower fritters (£8) were paired with a well-charged garlic aioli. I could have eaten a bowlful to myself.
A pair of black bean tacos (£5) had cleverly been constructed using deep-fried gyoza skins. The result was hyper-crunchy, and reminiscent of the Old El Paso ones I used to eat as a kid. Coriander salsa brought fragrance and vibrancy to the dish.
A potato rosti (£8) was the only underwhelming starter. It lacked crispness despite appearing almost burnt whilst blobs of mushroom ketchup and labneh lacked oomph.
Onto the larger plates and thin and silky maltagliati pasta (£14) was bathed in a verdant pea and basil sauce. Smoked ricotta, toasted pine nuts and whole peas all added pops of flavour and texture to this summery dish.
Charred hispi cabbage (£13), one of my favourite vegetables, was smoky and tender and topped with a bunch of flavour-packed garnishes - creamy alubia bean stew, a warming urfa chilli dressing, and zingy gremolata.
Tender aubergine (£14) lacked the smoke and char which it had so much potential to offer. So, a thick, rich and spice-layered mole sauce had to do a lot of heavy lifting.
Excellent slow cooked caramelised heritage carrots (£14) were sat on a bed of creamy and nutty whipped feta laced with pistachios.
Our sole meat dish was a worthy centrepiece. Bavette steak slices (£18) had an excellent depth of flavour and were served beautifully rare alongside tomato and charred spring onion salsa and charred pepper.
Desserts were the least impressive part of the meal. They were enjoyable but didn’t wow.
Creamy tiramisu (£8) had a great texture but lacked a good hit of coffee or marsala.
Scoops of dark chocolate and peanut ice cream (£7) both had a really good flavour but their texture was too light and moussey rather than rich and dense.
I really enjoyed SlowBurn's veggie focused cooking and charmingly quirky setting. With its proximity to some great craft breweries (including Pressure Drop, Exale, and Wild Card), it’s a lovely spot for a night out in London.
The Details:
Address - 114b Blackhorse Lane, London E17 6AA
Telephone - 07541 365064
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