The gimmick here works

Phoebe went to ETHOS 17/3/2015

Specs:

Overall Rating:

Average Cost pp: (main, coffee, cake) £20

Nearest Tube: Oxford Circus

http://ethosfoods.com/

Sunday brunch was scheduled, amongst other reasons to set the record straight about Ethos. Rumours through the urbane brunching grapevine, varied from both ends of the extreme spectrum. This new concept needed a test run.

Ethos is both a blessing and a curse. The weigh = pay system is an effective tactic for the commonsensical, self-controlled type. The argument being, that you eat the optimum quantity and you are left with neither waste nor want (the blessing). Some of us however don’t have that luxury or mastery of their own appetite. Unbridled access and complete self-autonomy can send my rationale off kilter. The help yourself buffet was definitely more Ottolenghi or Wholefoods than school canteen.  The self-service taboo seems to have been acquitted and completely reinvented in this avante garde restaurant. Vegan and vegetarian food presented in huge white ceramic bowls, on marble and wood panelled islands. Its sophisticated, healthy but also fuss free. Tall, beautiful silver birches stood intermittently between tables. It all looked very trendy and clean without being clinical. The blue and white colour scheme, logo and foliage gave a Nordic impression, despite the Brazilian inspired idea. It just worked.

There was a lot to satiate oneself from, the virtue of helping yourself meaning you can sample everything. The cold counter displayed; curried cauliflower, spinach and candy pink radish salads, sweet roasted veg and goats cheese, seeded pearl couscous, homemade slaw, miso aubergine, an abundance of quinoa and more dips than you can shake a stick at. The hot counter boasted Moroccan chickpea tagine, lentil stew, arancini and runny-in-the-middle scotch eggs. The food was lovely.  So delicious, that I in fact had multiple plates (the curse part).  It was all fresh, bright, well balanced and aesthetically pleasing. Unlike many healthy alternatives I didn’t feel like I was sacrificing anything. I thought it might be strange mixing such eclectic food, but my plate was surprisingly cohesive. The bowls were all interesting, some more atypical than others. The hot food did not feel as appealing, but it is appreciably harder to cater warm food en masse.

There is no way of measuring the weight of your plate until you get to the till which can be unsettling or exciting depending on how you look at it. I personally like to know exactly how much I am getting and exactly how much I am paying for it. Without a comparison, weights quite often appear arbitrary to me. I need a frame of reference to contextualise 100g for £2.50. If I only learnt one thing from years of pic n’ mix in my youth however is to capitalise on the lighter items to give the illusion you had been more fruitful. Lots of leaves, absolutely no potato. The coffee was good and vaguely healthy cakes made for an after meal treat.

There is little to note about ‘service’, as there was none. Not sitting to peruse a menu and nurturing food anticipation made the whole occasion very brief. The absence of waiting somehow fosters a feeling that the ´favour´ must be reciprocated and an obligation for an expeditious turnaround. The setting was perfect for our occasion and the food lovely, but it would not have been suited for slow-moving catch-up or an idle afternoon of people watching. London has bred a fixation with a ‘concept’. It appears that every bar, eatery, night necessitates a concept in order to prosper. Generation Y lose interest quicker than you can say eggs benny. Without an offbeat quirk, we seem unable to appreciate a restaurant for its fundamentally good grub. It needs a notion, a USP, a defining idiosyncrasy. The gimmick here works, however it does make me question, what happened to good old fashioned café culture?!!

Waiting staff if not a little weird were among friends this neck of the woods

Penny went to HACKNEY BUREAU 17/5/2015

Specs: 👓

Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Average Cost pp: (alcoholic bev, main) £12.50

Nearest Tube: Bethnal Green

https://www.facebook.com/hackneybureau

After persuading my comrades we ate after and not before a trip to the BUST Crafts fair in Bethnal Green, the persistent grumbles of my stomach spoke otherwise and surely we found ourselves on route diversion to the Hackney Bureau on Mare Street. Understated and unassuming from the onset and within there is little indication that Hackney Bureau is in fact an eatery. There is no signage and currently it is sandwiched between some rather unsightly road works. However there were a few sun seeking diners outside and inside the place was booming with custom. Having waited at the entrance patiently to be seated and endured the recognition and even smiles of passing staff, but still with no table, we quickly fabricated that it was most likely the rather hippyish set of waiting staff had been on an all-night bender the previous evening and were feeling a bit spaced out. We decided to help them out and approached them to request a spot by the window. The interior much like the outside is unassuming. Befitting of the Hackney scene with minimal décor; some reclaimed furniture, potted plants, stacks of mags & books and such, it was much like the service, all very laid-back with a comfortable living room ambience. Much to my easy-living-Sunday taste, if not perhaps a little too unkempt in some regards (slightly messy for the more prudish diner).

The Sunday brunch offering is simple but wholesome with a selection of salads, breakfast classics, and a few specials on the board to choose from. There is no fannying around with the food at Hackney Bureau – the dishes are presented crudely, the portions welcomingly large and the ingredients on a plate kept at a minimal. I went for the truffled mushrooms and poached eggs on sourdough. Poppy ever the avodict selected an avo-feta-egg combo and Alice opted for a salad of chicory, stilton and kidney beans – an unusual fusion that she ensures was rather tasty. Mine was equally satisfying. The mushrooms neither too soggy nor too crisp were big and juicy, fried the appropriate amount and in the appropriate amount of truffle, not too overpowering but enough to give the dish that earthy, garlicky undertone I really dig. My only complaint was that there was a little too much dressing on the side salad – but with nothing more to protest, this is hardly paramount to the overall taste experience. Poppy’s avocado dish was also much to her delight and it was all washed down with congressional Bloody Marys. Used to central London’s requisite £10 price tag for a Bloody Mary these came in a snip at 6 quid and went down a real treat. And at 6/7 pounds avg. per plate the bill was very fair indeed.

As the meal progressed our initial thoughts about the staff were cemented – a bit scatty (got our order wrong) and seemingly oblivious of the customers and surroundings (they often took a break to sit around chatting or eat their lunch). However their apparent aloofness became quite amusing if not endearing and did add to the relaxed environment. Overall the Hackney Bureau provides a very affordable, no-nonsense, low-key and tasty kinda brunch. The waiting staff if not a little weird were among friends this neck of the woods and merely homage to the hacknified milieu. Certainly give this one a go if you’re in the area. Ps. No card payments here, come prepared and stopover at your local hole in the wall.