Cornerstone, Hackney Wick, London restaurant review

Cornerstone in Hackney Wick is owned by Tom Brown, former head chef of the Michelin-starred Nathan Outlaw at The Capital (where I had one of my best meals of 2017). Understandably, as a protégé of Outlaw and a fellow Cornishman, Brown specialises in fish cookery.

The restaurant is a stark industrial space which is dominated by a big open kitchen with counter seating. It feels very hip, very Hackney.

The menu comprises of small plates; always a bit of a risk as a punter as you often get less bang for your buck and run the gauntlet of having to split an egg three-ways.

We ordered the chef's selection (£45 a head) which allowed us to put most of the menu through its paces. We also ordered a couple of extra dishes. Natch.

As a table of three, ordering the chef's selection seemed to be a canny manoeuvre as we were served two of each dish - I suspect a table of two would have received one of each.

Sourdough toast with a good char and chew was served with a generous slab of meaty dripping.

Delicately pickled oysters retained their ozonal freshness and were topped with warming horseradish cream, finely diced celery and fragrant dill oil. This was a cracking dish.

Our first extra dish was raw scallops. Tender and sweet of flesh they were joined by a verdant herb sauce and the crunch of hazelnut. But, £18 for one and a half scallops felt a bit steep.

Meaty slices of cured brill were joined by an ajo blanco inspired garnish. Whilst the blobs of tangy cream cheese, toasty almonds, cleansing grapes and sherry vinegar were all delicious, it didn't really remind me of ajo blanco. I think this was largely down to the presence of the cream cheese.

A delightful dish of al dente white broccoli was topped with a buttery sauce flecked with two types of umami-rich anchovy. Separately, this dish would have cost £10 for three bits of brassica.

Our second extra plate saw a crisp homemade crumpet (£12) topped with a mound of mildly spiced and buttery shrimp, shavings of fennel and chopped parsley. This was a major upgrade on the crumpets and marmite I often have for my breakfast.

First rate fish cookery followed.

A crisp-skinned, meaty fillet of hake was joined by a chilli-thwacked cafe de Paris hollandaise studded with capers.

A soft and sweet fillet of lemon sole was bathed in an intense chicken jus and joined by sweet garden peas and mild wild garlic.

The final savoury dish was a rich stew of unfeasibly tender cuttlefish topped with richness puncturing pieces of pickled apple and spring onion.

Dessert, a few blobs of tasty things, was good but didn't wow. A milky chocolate mousse was served with caramel topped banana, custard and candied pecans.

Uber-creamy chocolate fudge accompanied the bill.

The fish cookery at Cornerstone is excellent and we had a really delicious dinner.

However, I'm still not sure about the small plates thing - the price of a few dishes seemed a bit steep and splitting two plates between three was a faff.

The Details:

Address - Cornerstone, 3 Prince Edward Road, Hackney Wick, E9 5LX

Web - https://cornerstonehackney.com/

Telephone - 0208 986 3922

Koj, Cheltenham Japanese restaurant review

Owned by Masterchef finalist Andrew Kojima, the eponymous Koj in Cheltenham serves innovative small plates of Japanese street food.

The cute dining spice with iconic Japanese brands adorning the wall, the open kitchen with calmly busy chefs and the friendly front of house team, including Andrew himself, all raised my expectations that we were in for a treat.

 
The menu is divided into appetisers (£4), grazing dishes (£10), hirata buns (£6) and rice and sides (£3). We ordered a bunch of stuff that was thankfully brought out gradually rather than in one job lot.

A complimentary dish of lightly pickled shiitake mushrooms and spring onions was light, fresh, different and delicious; a theme that continued throughout the meal. 

 
Mrs G sank a couple of Mitsubatchis (£10), a seriously neckable yet deceptively boozy combination of kojin gin, honey syrup, lemon juice and bee pollen. 

A Taking the Calpis (£8) was a fruity, slightly creamy and surprisingly well-balanced combination of dry manzanilla sherry, pineapple, yuzushu (yuzu macerated in sake), calpis (a milky, slightly-acidic Japanese soft drink) and lemon. 

 
A bowl of savoy cabbage leaves (£4) were coated in a compellingly savoury and spicy miso dressing. It’s amazing how something so simple could be so tasty. 

 
Meaty aubergine pieces (£4) were coated in an equally well-judged sweet ginger dressing. 

 
A pork belly hirata bun (£6) gave the acclaimed Bao a run for its money. The squidgy bun was filled with a beautifully crisp and tender round of flesh topped with warming and richness balancing kimchi and kimchi mayo. 

A duck leg bun (£6) contained a generous amount of meat topped with smokey barbecue sauce and lightly pickled cucumbers. It was less successful than the pork bun due to the firmer texture of the meat which didn’t have as much give as the soft bun. 

 
A trio of grazing dishes were smashing.

A perfectly flaky fillet of roast cod (£10) was enhanced by a savoury marinade of white miso. 

 
Koj fried chicken (£10) was worthy of being the only dish on the menu to be named after the owner. Uber-juicy chicken pieces coated in a grease-free, super-umami crumb were served with a ridiculously addictive bowl of sesame mayo. 

Okonomiyaki (£10) transported me back to my travels around Hiroshima. Essentially a savoury pancake, Koj’s version contained a comfortingly soft and crisp combination of cabbage, red onion and mushrooms topped with a sweet and tangy brown sauce, kimchi mayonnaise and savoury bonito flakes. It looked like a hot mess but it tasted like a dream. 

Soft and sweet leeks and konbu seaweed (£3) were topped with su-miso mustard sauce. 

A side of sticky furikake rice (£3) was sprinkled with seaweed and sesame. 

 
Desserts maintained the very high standard.

A bowl of burned white chocolate and miso ice cream (£3.50) was one of the finest ice creams I’ve ever eaten. Gorgeously smooth and creamy, it had a toasty and salty Caramac thing going on. 

A smooth and citrusy yuzu posset (£3.50) topped with black sesame and raspberry was as good an example as I’ve eaten anywhere. 

We had a brilliant meal at Koj. It’s definitely achieved its aim of pushing the boundaries of Japanese food in the UK and it’s great fun to spend an evening grazing on interesting small plates whilst drinking cocktails and Japanese beers.

The Details:

Address - Koj, 3 Regent Street, Cheltenham, GL50 1HE

Web - https://kojcheltenham.co.uk

Telephone - 01242580455