Review: The Water House Project, Bethnal Green

They do a good thing at The Water House Project, a small touch but it feels generous and indulgent; with each of the wine pairings, they come along after and ask if you’d like a little more of the wine. Don’t mind if I do! Although, of course, it’s daft to overdo it on the wine pairing when the food is (almost) all of the finest.

Having said that, we actually chose the “mixed pairing” which means half the drinks are some well-chosen wines, the other half are interesting botanical drinks that they’ve built from ferments and shrubs to try and capture the same character as some of the wines, but in a non-alcoholic form. These were very good, especially a darkly oak-smoked drink reminiscent of a peaty whiskey, although typically they all tasted a bit sweet and less refreshing than the wine alternative.

The dining room at the WHP is lovely, a beautifully airy space with handsomely smooth wooden furniture and a mixture of rustic and industrial decor. It feels strangely out of place when you discover it after winding your way through the unrefined back streets of Bethnal Green. Service was friendly and professional, and they spend a good bit of time introducing their dishes, drinks and ideas.

The snacks to start included a wonderful sweet tomato broth with fresh peas, nicely glazed slivers of onion and lardo on a little brown crumpet that was a bit too worthy, and a nifty tartlet of skilfully cured trout diced with beetroot and humming with coal oil. There were some lovely starters: diced oyster and cucumber with a bright sorrel granita on top and herb oil to drizzle over. Dreamily creamy custard of scallop corals, covered in a disc of sweet magnolia jelly and topped with brown crab “caviar” pearls. This was a stand-out little dish. Then again, so was the deeply caramelised scallop that came next, served on little ribbons of celeriac also caramelised gently down until they tasted more like little strips of toffee apple.

One dish did miss the mark. The “cullen skink” of pearl barley, mussels and smoked haddock was overwhelmed by a sauce containing a huge whack of Laphroaig whisky. It’s the peatiest of whiskies and I use it carefully even in bold cocktails, here it was just too much. Pity, as I liked the dish and the smoked haddock slices were beautiful.

The main of hogget was back to excellence and balance, served with an interesting dollop of “black pudding” made with mushrooms, kojis and other non-meat cleverness. Nice piece of hogget, the fatty edge nicely browned and packed with all the flavour. Previously a remove of hogget sausage with leftover bread dumplings in a root veg broth was pleasant but missing something to lift the earthy flavours.

Feeling stuffed by now, we still loved the dessert, a neat disc of a very beautiful caramelised cream, silky with a texture like a good creme brulee but with a cleaner and richer flavour. Pear dice and pine nuts made for an unusual and delicious pairing underneath. The petit four was a “singing hinnie” which is like a tiny currant-filled welshcake, dotted with lavender flowers and served with cream whipped up with that potent hum of Laphroaig again. Less overwhelming in this context!

At £125 this is a strong tasting menu, with a real sense of its own character. I particularly enjoyed the non-alcoholic pairings, although that said I’m pleased we mixed some wine in. I’d definitely recommend an outing to Bethnal Green and dinner at The Water House Project.