Food
Taking orders – Craft’s Test Kitchen Tuesdays
by Helena Lang
What a genius idea! At Stevie Parle's Docklands outpost, they test out their latest recipes on paying punters, all for a great-value £28. Editor-in-chief Helena Lang and her daughter Jess popped along as guinea pigs a few weeks ago.
What is it?
Craft is a beautifully designed restaurant and bar, gleaming with Tom Dixon furnishings and accessories, right next to the O2. The 360-degrees space has views that match some of the best in London. It also has its own smokehouse and beehives, with a big emphasis on seasonal, local ingredients.
What's on the menu?
It's a surprise. Every Tuesday, all diners are given the latest inventions the kitchen has been developing. The menu can have any number of courses and the waiters give you a feedback form for comments. This is a brilliant way to taste some of the most original and delicious food in London, cooked by an exciting team of chefs at a bargain price.
Our meal kicked off with crispy pig's ears, served with baked cheese and a cheese cracker, but it was the next course that really got our mouths watering – a genius portion of beautifully cooked hake, served with parsley root and apple with a spoonful of rich chicken juice.
![1hakefilter2.jpg](/uploads/media/960x/09/3039-1hakefilter2.jpg?v=1-0)
Other highlights were a tender scallop with a fashionable miso glaze with chunks of turnip and a veal stock. Jess loved her slab of pork belly, which came with a sweet pumpkin purée and cockles.
![2anotherscallop.jpg](/uploads/media/960x/00/3040-2anotherscallop.jpg?v=1-0)
The dessert was a super-rich and rather fabulous salted chicory mousse-cum-cheesecake with a dense dark chocolate sorbet on the side.
![3dessert.jpg](/uploads/media/960x/01/3041-3dessert.jpg?v=1-0)
The dish we would order again?
We're hoping the hake, pork belly and chicory mousse make it on to the restaurant menu! But frankly it was all superb, and such a brilliant way to eat food that's a little off the wall at a bargain price.
Call 020 8465 5910 to make a reservation; craft-london.co.uk