Bacchus, Shoreditch

[TheBacchus]

Fantastic stuff - and well deserved!  Are you going to be at the restaurant at all over the next couple of weeks Phil?

←

Up until Thursday yes then i'm off to Finland for a week and back to Burnley for a week

Restaurant is open until Saturday then open again on Weds 28th until Saturday 30th. Also open on NYE but not as a restaurant. Staff decided they wanted a party so i let them - to my amusement they have made flyers for it with the tagline "Bacchus - NYE 2006 - Fine drinking in trainers..."

Its £15 in with a buffet and will be both the restaurant and the lounge upstairs open

Then closed again until the 3rd Jan

I'll be back sometime around the 5th but am away quite a bit throughout Jan on business

[Gavin Convery]

Excellent review and I like the film ;-)

In some ways I'm glad not everybody gets - I think that shows you're doing the right things - I'm sure the Fat Duck got the same response. But whereas I felt the Fat Duck (for me) didn't always hit the right notes (it was quite a few years ago now), Bacchus hit all the right spots for me...and it's a lot cheaper!

[ermintrude]

Booked for Thursday, taking my partner and my friend there for her Birthday, she's the head chef at http://www.buchansrestaurant.co.uk a local Battersea restaurant & Bar. Really looking forward to the meal and she asked was it a "Wine" place, hoping she'll not find out what it's about till we get there. Asked for the Aventura menu - if they can do it so no choice for us - but she liked the fat duck so .......

[Charlie O]

I'll be there too on Thursday

(at least, I think I will. Sheer ineptitude on my part meant that in trying to change my girlfriend's booking, I managed to book us in twice. All sorted now - I hope...).

We'll be the party of four.

[ermintrude]

On Thursday the 11th Jan 2007 I visited Bacchus, the occasion being my best friends birthday, she’s the head chef at popular local restaurant in Battersea so I booked for me and my partner. When I booked I asked if it would be possible to have “Aventura” 9 course tasting menu and booked for 7pm as the later slots were booked.

SHORT REVIEW:-,

We had a great time and loved our experience there and we are recommending Bacchus to our friends. The food was original and impressive, but occasionally out of balance, this was generally solved by avoiding a component of the dish. The staff were friendly, attentive (and good looking –, my partner took a shine to the wine waiter!) but they cared. Any problem with service only occurred when the restaurant was very busy. Just by watching the kitchen and serving station we could see the intensity of the chef, he radiated passion (and inspired that in those around him). I’ve seen reviews of Bacchus that have been polarised to either 1 or 5 stars – however if your up for new food experiences in the value for money stakes it has to be 5. Go now while you can.

LONG REVIEW:-

Well here goes, I’m going to be hyper critical here as from what I’ve seen posted I believe Bacchus would like to know BUT please do not let this detract from the fact that we had a great time at Bacchus and I mean all of the following in a positive way and I’m measuring things in comparison to my fictitious “Perfect” dining experience,

US:-

To give some background to the three of us:-

Chef:- Belgian; Lived in London for over 15 years; Runs a popular local restaurant with a Scottish theme (mostly food source - but haggis is always on the menu and a big selection of Scotch behind the bar), will risk eating my food experiments – Sodium Alginate fun etc.

Partner:- Very conservative tastes BUT will try anything – 15 years with me means he has put up with a lot. Had no problems with the 2 meals and Breakfast at the El Bulli Hotel – NoBu was more of a problem as no matter how many times he tries he finds raw fish a challenge and has a pathological hate of fish bones.

Me:- I work in IT but a bit of a foodie. As a sideline I also support a well know classic French/modern British restaurant’s IT systems and eat their regulary. I love to cook and experiment with food. E.g. Alginate./Agar/65 degree eggs however my partner keeps thinking I will poison him!

REVIEW:-

We did not get a final menu, so the menu items listed are from memory of the descriptions given when we ate and memories of what we ate.

We arrived following Transport For London directions. This was a giggle for me, as I had my partner and the chef going “Where the f&£k are you taking us” as the Transport For London directions take you via a high rise council estate, then when you hit Hoxton Street, the pub opposite is boarded up, the shops have bars on the window and the corner shop sells nothing but “Mr Muscle” however after Bacchus stands out, plain, simple, clean and well lit. So in we go……..

Entering at 7pm we were the first there – there was a huddle of staff around the serving station and I got the impression that information was being transferred about the current menu and service.

As always, being the first in the restaurant the atmosphere was a bit odd but we were seated and given the drink menu to pick an aperitif (or wine). After ordering and the drinks delivered the menu arrived, and before Chef and Partner got a look in I asked, as on my reservation, if it was possible to have the “Aventura” menu and the wine paring – and the menu’s were then taken away. (This was a good thing for me as I wanted the Chef to not know what was coming)

So on to the food:-

Amuse:

Cold Water, olive oil, Foam with chilli flecks and ???

This was unusual, I can’t remember exactly what the waiter said but I do distinctly remember “Cold Water, olive oil, Foam with chilli flecks” this was interesting, we all tasted a sea food tinge to the water (was it a broth or the foam dissolving into the water) however the combination with the olive oil was intriguing and it set the scene that this was not your standard restaurant. A criticism of this dish is that the bowl it was served in combined with the cutlery does not let you eat all of the dish – you have to drink the last bits out of the bowl. But an interesting start to the meal.

The “Aventura” Menu – 11/01/07

Sardine sashimi, Foie gras, beetroot puree with sake & rosemary spray:

Just before this course was served we were talking with partner about food and he said the only thing he didn’t like was raw fish, but would always try things. So raw sardine and Foie Gras arrived - well chef and me loved this improbable combination, partner loved it as well until he hit a sardine with slightly thicker pin bones than normal and then he would not touch anymore.. My criticisms of this dish would be, that when cutting the sardine the knives were not sharp enough to cut through the sardine skin – steak knives may be better – and if going for 100% perfect (Impractical as I know how much work this would it would be to do unless the cost goes through the roof ) complete removal of all bones.

Artichoke soup, Ceps, Pine Nut ravioli & sour cream mouse.

Everybody thought this was great and the pine nut ravioli exceptional. All the tastes combined and worked and my partner does not like artichoke!.

Baby squid, potatoes, garlic, chervil, black paella paint

This caused a bit of an argument. There is a streak of “black paella paint” and a blob of “black paella paint” with truffle overtones, both taste difference – are they the different, or the same but the streak more concentrated by being more dehydrated (Chef and Me liked the difference – partner thought to much of the same taste). But we ate it all – Yumm .

Pork jowl, langoustine, leek, black radish

The pork was obviously cooked Sous Vide, and was melt in the mouth tender. However my partner had a section of jowl that was more than 50% fat, it put him off. To put things in context I do not generally like fat but the portion of jowl I had was semi fatty but gorgeous, but if I had had a ¾ inch of fat like my partner I would have also have not eaten it. But the combination of everything, prawn, jowl, crunch of radish was heaven. (But why the flowers ?)

At this point we talked about the restaurant; and we all thought that this place was amazing and I was grilled how I’d found it (Thanks eGullet); also the opinion from us all was that very soon to get into Baccus you will either have a long wait or the prices will have doubled/tripled.

Rabbit mousse, potato leaves, cherries This was where it fell flat. No one could criticise the dish in and of itself but compared to what had gone before it was “bland” – in my own view you can’t have fireworks all the time as it detracts from them so this was a perhaps a grounding “back to normal dish”.

Free range egg cooked at sixty five degrees, dashi, chicken skin

Chef and me loved this. The only problem was the partner – to eggy!

He does not like 65 degree eggs – did them at home a year ago after reading McGee and didn’t work then. Chef and I loved this – Partner thought “To Eggy” – but he never liked 65 degree eggs so not unexpected.

Salmon belly, black olives, date and hazelnut puree, pate de brique

Ok at this point the restaurant was getting busy, we are now experiencing delays in food and wine arriving. However everything was still in sync.

This dish didn’t work for us, while I ate all of it Chef and Partner left most of it. While the Salmon was (cooked sous vide?) and had a great texture the combination with date and hazelnut puree, pate de brique was way to rich .

Lamb loin, vanilla parsnips, figs Brulée, cocoa oil.

Service was starting to drift,, food arrived but no matching wine, to be fair the wine arrived quickly once the food was on the table, but not from our wine waiter. This was an odd course as the sous vide lamb was as tender as it could be, but lacked a real taste of meat. I thought it should have been caramelised to get the Mallard reaction going and so get that more meaty taste. The “Brule Fig” I guess tried to compensate, but didn’t fully work for me. –I must say the meat was so tender it did work well with the fig BUT the parsnip vanilla cream did not work, parsnip with a hint of vanilla maybe but the vanilla was so way to strong. All 3 off us left the parsnip/vanilla streak – together with the the perceived richness of the previous course had chef was changing her opinion. (Note:- while eating our wine water arrives, apologises and gives us the info about our wine

Black olive financier, roasted pear ice cream, pine nuts

We liked this but we thought it was a bit rich/heavy to end a 9 course meal, Also chef observed (I’ll use computer terms) that the staff were thrashing at this point– I.e. A lot of stuff was happening but little real work was occurring - this seemed to be a combination of customer load, kitchen delivery, bar service ( And I have to say some bar staff seemed to be doing nothing while the rest were running around) and I think the stress of wanting to be perfect (And I have to say some bar staff were doing nothing while the rest were trying to give 100%). But I put this down to being a new restaurant and still working to find out the best way to work.

And unexpectedly:-

Apple panacotta, ginger bread grounds, lemongrass bubble bath, Thai basil oil

Thank you Bacchus. I’d not asked for this, but a birthday desert with a token candle arrived for the birthday firl (Chef) and BANG this was the ending to the meal. If I had one suggestion to make it would be do this as your end of your 9 course tasting menu as the Black olive financier etc

End of meal

3xCoffee, 2xBrandy + Baileys

Summary

We had a great evening but I wonder where Bacchus will go. As far as the food goes then out of 11 courses including amuse and birthday treat) the summary would be: 4 Brilliant, 3 great, 2 OK, 2 Unbalanced. (Nothing bad). With exemplary, attentive, informative but non intrusive service that unfortunately lost focus and started to “thrash” it when it got busy.

I love the idea of “Fine dining in trainers” but can Bacchus stay true to it’s origins? (For many £343 for 3 is what your average punter would call expensive – but for London this is exceptional value). If as I expect, the word gets around Bacchus will it either have to go upscale or need to manage customer expectations but either way I expect it will be difficult to get a table.

All I can say is that I’m glad I visited there and plan to go back.

[Gavin Convery]

Ermintrude,

Excellent review and I think very fair. Agree about the service - some pruning may be required, but the head waitperson(woman) is excellent.

Some things definitely work better than others, but it is exciting to go to a restaurant which is trying so hard to push boundaries and inevitably things may not work. It is still early days yet and I think another year will allow things to settle down.

It will be interesting to see whether it will become as popular as we think - mainly because some of the combinations are so unusual. Given you've been to El Bulli (I haven't but been to Fat Duck) I'd be interested to see what, if any, comparisons can be made.

[Mrs Woman]

Is anyone else still having trouble with the website for Bacchus? I have quite an up-to-date PC with all the correct whizzy plug-ins but on the main page I get the top Bachus bit with 4 dots above it, then a line, then the sketch with four pics of food. Clicking on the sketch or the food takes me to another page where there is a drawing of a couple of buildings but with nothing else to click on!

We are staying in the Hoxton hotel over Easter w/e and I'd like to show Mr Woman some menu or such like to see if he fancies it.

In the words of the 'enders, sort it aaaht! (please)

[JudyB]

Is anyone else still having trouble with the website for Bacchus? I have quite an up-to-date PC with all the correct whizzy plug-ins but on the main page I get the top Bachus bit with 4 dots above it, then a line, then the sketch with four pics of food. Clicking on the sketch or the food takes me to another page where there is a drawing of a couple of buildings but with nothing else to click on!

We are staying in the Hoxton hotel over Easter w/e and I'd like to show Mr Woman some menu or such like to see if he fancies it.

In the words of the 'enders, sort it aaaht! (please)

←

Are you by any chance running Internet Explorer 7?

I am running XP SP2 with Internet Explorer 6 and I can view the website properly. However, I am getting an icon at the bottom corner of IE which indicates that there were some errors on the page. Having said this I am currently seeing the same errors on eGullet (but not everywhere I browse to), so this may be a different problem.

[TheBacchus]

I've checked and cant find any reason as to why you cant view the website.

its built using flash only instead of HTML so ensuring you have the latest flash drivers from here

http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/

If that doesnt work, try using an alternative browser like Firefox

Good luck!

PS. If it still doesnt work then let me know and i'll email you copies of the current menu

[JudyB]

I've checked and cant find any reason as to why you cant view the website.

its built using flash only instead of HTML so ensuring you have the latest flash drivers from here

http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/

If that doesnt work, try using an alternative browser like Firefox

Good luck!

←

It looks like the problem is that your website is dependent on a newer version of Flash than some of us have installed.

When I checked this earlier I was at work. I have now checked this at home and it doesn't work here with Internet Explorer 7. Further checking shows that I have Adobe Flash Player version 7,0,19,0 installed while Duncan has version 8 - and that works fine with your website.

The website also works fine with Firefox (2.0.0.1) and Flash version 9,0,28,0 on my system.

You might want to rethink the use of Flash - even when it works on my system it is fairly slow to load (on a 2Mbps ADSL connection).

[Mrs Woman]

Judy, thanks for this, I believe you may have hit the nail on the head. Perhaps it would be wise, as Judy ays, to rethink the design of the website as not everyone is going to be as persistent or as web-savvy to go looking for another browser and/or Flash update. Business websites should always be functional first, style secondary. Perhaps you should offer Flash and non-Flash versions?

Edited January 18, 2007 by Mrs Woman (log)

[Infrasonic]

Have to echo the flash sentiments being expressed!

Home pages should always have the option of html/flash, and the html should be compatible with PDA and phone browsers like Opera etc.

I know a few web designers and I constantly moan at them for not doing this by default, they should build it in to the basic quote.

just sayin'

I

[naebody]

Rabbit mousse, potato leaves, cherries This was where it fell flat. No one could criticise the dish in and of itself but compared to what had gone before it was “bland” – in my own view you can’t have fireworks all the time as it detracts from them so this was a perhaps a grounding “back to normal dish”.

←

Oddly enough, that was my absolute favourite thing on the menu. Intense yet light bunnyness with nicely balanced hedgerow-type acompaniments. I went a la carte though, so guess I may not have had the full creative effect.

Just to reiterate comments from previous posters: the front of house really is outstanding. Despite the place being heaving very late on a Friday night, all staff still managed to maintain a relaxed efficiency, and generally seemed to both know and care about the food on offer.

On that subject: the amuse (a shot of chilled coffee with thick olive oil, rock salt and an astringent cream of some kind) was inspired; both the langostine starter (not the one on the website menu -- I think it involved mushroom rather than pork jowl) and the winter roots went down well with the other half, meaning I didn't get much of a taste. The gingerbread/bubblebath thingmy somehow manged to be both refreshing and meal-concludingly sturdy, with all the moreish qualities of crack cocaine. Wasn't knocked out by a cod in chicken skin creation as recommended by the waiter, with the assortment of flavours blurring to create a distraction from, rather than an addition to, what is an unavoidably dull lump of fish. Still, it's the kind of place where you don't mind the occasional misfire, because you know there's not an ounce of cynicism involved in the enterprise. Overall: yay. Perhaps even yay+.

(Oh, and the website works fine on my computer, which was picked up on eBay for £50 including postage and runs an operating system launched when John Major was in power.)

Edited January 20, 2007 by naebody (log)

[Mrs Woman]

Just realised why I can't view the website at work (I can see it in all its lovely Flash glory at home, hallelujah!): I don't have the admin privileges to update the Flash on my browser here and/or download a new browser. So I am not the luddite you probably all think I am, just an unfortunate work PC user

[PoppySeedBagel]

I agree about slow-loading Flash - I don't bother about having it up to date on my work computer as none of the websites I normally go into use it. As Bacchus is in Hoxton I can only assume you're not bothered about attracting anyone who isn't cool enough to have the latest Flash as soon as it's issued.

Edited January 22, 2007 by PoppySeedBagel (log)

[apshelbourne]

It's not just that you have to make sure you keep Flash up to date, and that you really need a broadband connection. Accessibility is the key issue here. The RNIB estimate that about 2 million people in the UK have serious sight problems, ranging from acute myopia to blindness. Some use screen readers to read websites; many more use built-in browser features, such as changing the default text size.

You can mimic these features in Flash, but it's hard work and it costs.

So, if you want your website to be an integral and important part of your marketing and communications, it's best not to make it unavailable to a significant proportion of your potential customers.

- Tony -

[TheBacchus]

I'm sorry i've held out long enough here. It appears that no matter what you do there is always someone ready to tell you you're wrong which is fine but when you are as wide of the mark as this i'm going to have to defend myself...

A significant proportion of our potential customers? I'm sorry what the hell are you talking about?

Flash. You're all absolutely right, gosh how careless of me - the world wide web only has 97% penetration of Flash so it must be the other 3% are obviously trying to access the Bacchus website. And, compared to Windows Media Player plug-in at 59%, Real-Player plug-in at 56% and QuickTime player plug-in at 41%, Flash is streets ahead.

And as for updates which on most peoples computers are set to automatically be done on a daily/weekly level or as required i'm pretty sure it not too much of an ask...

And as for this accessibilty, visibilty, form function nonsense that is EXACTLY the reason i and thousands other use flash instead of HTML.

The thing people dont like about flash is when there are long flash intros and where the websites are too fancy and are difficult to navigate. The Bacchus website is laid out exactly like a HTML website with simple straightforward information - i dont think its fancy at all and its function is purely to allow people to either:

a.) See a sample menu

b.) Find our address; or

c.) make a reservation online

And seeing as over 50% of our ENTIRE bookings come via the website, i'd say its done a pretty good job of being functional first.

And, if you want to get technical about it:

Flash is slow to download?

Tosh. This is the biggest myth going. Flash is designed to be both quick and effective

Better user experience

Flash gives you the ability to display data as part of an ever-changing process without having to reload or refresh the page! That’s right -- the data can change without even so much as a flicker from the browser so this means a better user experience and better accessibilty

Font embedding

With Flash you have the ability to embed any font you wish and have it display in the client browser regardless of whether they have the font installed on their machine. You no longer have to convert fonts to images in order to maintain the font for display on varying user systems. So for those with eyesight problems - viewing Century Gothic in a size 12 font is far better than having the font changed to Times New Roman because you have a limited font package on your pc

Greater Control

Flash’s vector rendering processes give it the ability to adjust the entire display size based on the browser size and, in doing so, keep your images and text clean and unpixelated. (Hey guess who this will appeal to?)

Plus, this will become more of an advantage as people begin to more frequently surf the Web from sources other than desktop computers, such as PDAs mobile phones.

I'm not saying everyone else is wrong but jeez come on - give us a break will you - its not our fault youre not allowed to get updates at work, and as cruel as it sounds i admit that when i designed the website i didnt take into consideration the 2 million people with serious eye sight problems in the UK but i promise that doesnt mean that they're not very welcome anytime they like

[TheBacchus]

And getting back to more important matters - here's a look at the new menus for 2007 with some completely new additions and some refined dishes...comments on these are welcome and sarcastic responses will be witheld for a short period...honest

Starters:

Scallops, hon shimeji mushrooms, dashi, mint

Rabbit mousse, potato leaves, cherries, hazelnuts, sprouts

Langoustines, catalan mix, hot garlic foam, citrus

Artichoke and honey-wine soup, pine nut ravioli, ceps, yogurt

Milk yuba roll, japanese mushrooms, leek puree, sprouts and flowers

Baby squid, potatoes, garlic, chervil, black paella paint

Mains:

Warm cod wrapped in chicken skin, sofrito, candied garlic, tomato hearts

Belly of pork, soy milk glaze, charred green onions, enoki, seaweed

Winter roots, cauliflower puree, herb gnocchi, vanilla and hazelnut oil

Salmon, black olives, date and hazelnut puree, pate de brique

Sirloin steak, grain mustard, nuts, red beets, spinach catalan, truffle potato puree

Side Orders:

Potato puree

Japanese mushrooms

Truffle potato puree

Spinach catalan

Desserts:

Polenta cake, mascarpone, orange granita, rosemary, cinnamon

Warm chocolate cake, green tea, rose sorbet

Apple pannacotta, ginger bread grounds, lemongrass bubble bath, Thai basil oil

Black olive financier, roasted pear ice-cream, fig puree, pine nuts

Tasting Menu:

Sardine, rhubarb puree, citrus, rosemary-sake spray

Pork jowl, black radish, langoustine, leek puree

Free range egg cooked at sixty five degrees, dashi, chicken skin

Salmon belly, black olives, date and hazelnut puree, pate de brique

Lamb shoulder, figs brulee, hijiki paste, hot coffee

Black olive financier, roasted pear ice cream, pine nuts

[beepop]

I like the look of this - especially cod & chicken skin. Had a look at your site/forum and look forward to visiting. Have you come accross a sweet red wine from Italy - Moscato Rosa, Franz Haas, Alto Adige. It is available from Liberty Wines. It is the most perfect match I have come accross for chocolate desserts - smells of rose petals and tastes like a decadent muscat. Your choclate pudding on your latest menu made me think of it.

beepop

[TheBacchus]

I like the look of this - especially cod & chicken skin. Had a look at your site/forum and look forward to visiting. Have you come accross a sweet red wine from Italy - Moscato Rosa, Franz Haas, Alto Adige. It is available from Liberty Wines. It is the most perfect match I have come accross for chocolate desserts - smells of rose petals and tastes like a decadent muscat. Your choclate pudding on your latest menu made me think of it.

beepop

←

Hi beepop

Welcome to the forum

Havent come across the wine but will be sure to check it out. Thanks for the tip!

Phil

[ravelda]

Looks like a fantastic menu, Scallops, hon shimeji mushrooms, dashi, mint and Belly of pork, soy milk glaze, charred green onions, enoki, seaweed are right up my street. The only dish that doesn't quite tickle my fancy is the sardine dish on the tasting menu, but no doubt I will be converted!

[Tom Roberts]

Menu looks v. good - I'm glad to see the egg and chicken skin has been retained. Is the pricing still the same?

[naebody]

As mentioned upthread, , I was underwhelmed by the cod in chicken skin -- thought it was a bit blurry, with the sofrito overwhelming the fish. Everything else was spot-on.

Did I notice some price creep though?

[TheBacchus]

Tom you're dying for me to break and stick the prices up arent you!

Fraid not - pricing still the same and will remain so. £40 for the 6-course tasting, £55 for 9-course Aventura menu and on the a la carte there isnt a main course over £20

I was having this conversation the other day about prices and i think it would be hard to justify putting the prices up much more because in doing so i think it would be fair for customers to expect more for their money. At that point we start moving away from the concept of Bacchus in its current form and it simply wouldnt work as well

For example, if we were to start charging more i myself as a customer would expect a bigger, wider ranging wine list, higher standard of bathroom facilities and higher end quality of ingredients such as foie, truffles etc to appear more readily on the menu. But then, what would be the point of being located where we are as 'Fine dining in trainers' when clearly we wouldnt be.

In short, we have to limit ourselves as to how far we go and this, ultimately, includes price

[ravelda]

Phil,

I think you make a very valid point - I also think as a business model yours is sound as it targets an area of the market where the competition, if any, are failing miserably and providing sub-standard food.