Perfect day trip lunch at No. 27 of the world: Restaurant The Clove Club (31. October 2019)
How does the perfect day look like? Fly to London in the morning, have lunch at No. 27 of the world, The Clove Club, and fly back in the evening. That was my program for the day! Definitely something you can and should do. Visiting The Clove Club for lunch is an absolutely memorable experience.
As a starter, they served a “trout tartlet with créme fraîche and sea weed” which was a nice little starter for your palate to get going.
Given I was expecting that the 8-course menu was being as quickly as it finally was, I decided to have a little apéro and went for “Major Scale (Bimber London & sweetdram smoked & spiced rums, amaro, gingerbread, mandarin)” (GBP 13.00) which was absolutely lovely in terms of taste and flavor.
As a first actual amuse bouche, they served “curry chicken” plus some kind of sea food tartlet. I loved the curry breaded chicken as it was super aromatic and on the other hand, the chicken was incredibly tender!
The next amuse bouche was a “beetroot gazpacho granita with almond cream” which was incredibly refreshing. The tomato part of the gazpacho was somewhat overwhelming compared to the beetroot. In combination with the sweetness of the almond cream, it made for an exquisite dish though!
The first official course of the day was a smoked fish course. I liked the combination of the different flavors – the smokey flavor of the fish, the sweetness of the apples and the different textures which all together were a great combination in terms of texture and flavor.
For the next course, they offered “white truffle from Alba” to go with the next course so I was rather curious on how the combination would taste …
… and at first, I was not entirely sure what would be coming next but then it reminded me of a course I’ve had at Noma 2.0 in June …
… and it actually – besides the sauce – looked pretty much like the dish at Noma.
However, when the 2actual truffle” (5gr, 50 GBP) which would be put on your dish was served …
… and grated over the scallop, so you’d have your “scallop with the white truffle from Alba”. The combination was great, respectively delicious. However, the scallop wasn’t as good as the one I’ve had a couple of years back in the Restaurant O Paparico in Porto. The white truffle from Alba on top really made it a nice dish though.
At first, I was a bit surprised about the next ‘course’ as it was an assortment of pots. It turns out that this was the sake pots you were supposed to pick one from.
At first, I was a bit surprised about the next course as it was a slice of makrel on a piece of paper which was in the end prepared ‘sashimi style’ and served with a nice soup (left pot on the upper part of the picture) and a special sake which wasn’t tasting like any of the sakes I’ve ever tried before (way smoother than anything I’ve ever tried).
In preparation of the next course, bread with butter was served. The salted butter was delicious and so was the bread. The idea wasn’t though that you’d eat the bread right away but that you keep it for a bit to dip it in the sauce which was served with the next course.
I am not entirely sure what to say about the next course as the fish was rather bland. However, the green sauce which was served definitely added to the dish. And the little tart was quite interesting.
The red sauce was ‘sold’ as an especially exquisite sauce in terms of taste – well, it wasn’t bad or anything but frankly also not as exciting as one might think for the way it was ‘sold’ as it mainly tasted of sea.
Next was a chicken with a polenta pancake and corn. This dish had somehow of a Mexican taste effect (due to the corn). The chicken was tender and overall quite delicious but a bit too smooth for my personal gusto as it did not really fit in my imagination of the dish (very much unlike the starter where the smoothness of the chicken really added to the experience). The polenta pancake was quite interesting as it was something I have never tried before.
In order to not put anything to waste, they also served “fried chicken foot skin” with a specific sauce which was a great combination with the fried skin but really didn’t go well with the chicken you can see in the picture before.
The main course was “venison with a stuffed plum and ashed kohlrabi”. I liked the venison a lot as it was rich in terms of flavor and perfectly prepared. The kohlrabi was intense and had an interesting consistency in terms of ‘bite’. The stuffed plum (not sure with what exactly it was stuffed, it was definitely meat though) wasn’t entirely to my liking.
The first dessert was some kind of ice cream with some kind of foam which both together in combination were delicious and refreshing.
The Madelaine which were served were absolutely exquisitely delicious. Just somehow a perfect combination between smooth and rich inside and with a slightly ‘crisp’ (although crisp is not the right word for it) layer around.
The third dessert was a cake …
… with ice cream …
… ending up in a perfect combination of sweet, cold, warm, crunchy, and soft.
Lastly, they didn’t offer any actual coffee (like e.g. a double espresso) but they only had some kind of filter coffee from Colombia and while I was rather skeptical about that, I must say that it was actually delicious!
Of course, to finish off the lunch, they also served a few chocolates of which I especially liked the one with a salted caramel filling!
What I liked a lot about The Clove Club is the fact that the kitchen is two meters in front of you and you get to see how the chefs prepare the dishes (okay, there is also a kitchen in the back for the heavier stuff but it’s still very entertaining and interesting).
The place is relatively small with maybe 10-12 tables but it was rather booked out for lunch which was a bit surprising to me given that the lunch would take quite some time (especially, if you take the 8 course menu). The service is very professional and attentive, making sure that you have everything you need at all times.
What surprised me a bit was the amount of wine you would get with each glass for the wine pairing! I ended up drinking more than one bottle during lunch which made it quite an extensive lunch version!
The entrance to The Clove Club is easily found as it is written clearly on the top of the door outside …
… but when you walk in, you have to make sure to not walk to the left as there is the drying room and don’t walk up the stairs but enter the rather small and not so visible door to the right to get in.
I must say, I get why The Clove Club is ranked as it is as you really have a great food experience in a lovely setting with professional service – and all that for a rather decent price! Therefore, I can absolutely recommend you to have lunch ere (or even dinner) but just make sure you book early enough in advance as else you won’t stand a chance to actually get a table!
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Contact Details:
Restaurant The Clove Club
Shoreditch Town Hall
380 Old Street
Hackney
EC1V 9LT London (UK)
Tel.: +44 20 77 29 64 96
E-Mail: reservations@thecloveclub.com
Homepage: http://www.thecloveclub.com
About the Author: Sven
I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org.
Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City. 
