INK (Bethnal Green)

• This experience just cements in my mind the whole nordic scene is clearly dead/old hat
• INK (Bethnal Green) is just a very very diluted mimic
• My first instinct was to question why anyone would choose to set up a restaurant in this location
• Our appetites were whet by a complimentary loaf of rustic bread
• The meal ended nicely with free orange infused vodka shots to clear the palette
• I will definitely return with friends for lunch in the sunnier time of year
• That definitive signature the pull of something very specific is what made me turn up at Ink on a Tuesday evening
• While every plated dish is synonymous with Martyn
• After a bit of a scuffle with Google Maps and help (yet again) from Eduardos
• Both of us were struck by the South East Asian feel of the complex
• We got lost and unlost) we were the only people at the restaurant Martyn and Eduardos had chosen to keep the restaurant open to accommodate our booking
• Something about Ink pushed me to do so and it was well worth it
• The presentation was just as inspiring as the images online
• Irreplaceable charm that comes with a dining experience where you get to chat with the very people behind a restaurant's concept
• Certainly not when it is of this quality
• The sleek minimalism of the restaurant was something they built from start to finish
• Every morning is an early start due to fish markets and supplies
• Perhaps my favourite bit of all was learning about Lithuania
• T exaggerate when I say that INK is pretty much out of everybody&rsquo
• From the first thing that was put on our table (the bread basket)
• I knew instantly that my surreal tryst with food had begun
• The flowers came in with the Quail Egg starter
• Slightly poached and meant to be eaten with the shell in one bite
• The egg with the fresh Asparagus to accompany it was a strangely congenial experience for me
• The Brazed Lamb on the other hand was undeniably boundless in its deliciousness
• Add INK to your wishlist for a special occasion you wish to share with somebody who enjoys beautiful things
• As a restaurant it was commercially stillborn
• Every sous vide dish was somewhere between unfathomable (liquorice sorbet) and unforgettable (pork belly which disappeared no sooner than it had hit your tongue)
• When I went with a friend to try the eye catching Nordic seasonal art food neighbourhood joint INK
• I put in more calls than is polite to even a fledgling restaurant
• The welcome is much warmer
• An eagerness to show you what they've got is writ across the front of house body language
• I hadn't really thought much about the type of meal I was taking my friend out
• You hold the menu and nothing less than three courses will do there are five or so starters and five or so mains to choose from
• Our stomachs settled with warm bread and leek ash (how novel
• My friend chose gravlax with pickled carrots
• What arrived were calligraphic flourishes of colour and swirls
• To eat the quail egg with its shell still on and this was a crunchy revelation
• The asparagus was vinaigry and brightly fresh
• My friend's main course was a tender pork belly that would have had me in an antisocial seethe of envy were it not for the lemon sole I'd chosen
• Relatives and taxi drivers have told me but I was at my smuggest when this latest personal success hit the back of the net
• It was a small fillet served with four types of celeriac (I didn't know there was more than one
• Its components laid out in some scrambled order of dismantlement with biscuit crumbled on top of and around filling parcelled into strawberry flavoured tubing
• Long before the third course plates were discretely thumbed clean I became a preacher of the INK pulpit
• No one whose opinion I respect could deny that they had something truly different the night they ate at INK or could deny that the value for money is remarkable
• Mhh tomato textures just in right place with salted cod
• Perfect cooked lemon sole with wild garlic leaves just Fabulous
• The service is exceptional
• Martin Meid's craft with food is outstanding
• Every single bite is bursting in your mouth with flavour
• Whether it was the chicken liver pate with orange
• Washed it down with a couple Espresso martinis there's something wonderfully decadent about this cocktail and INK impresses with their version
• Reserve a table and make the best while you can
• Finding it is not the easiest
• The food can best be described as powerful
• My partner and I were compelled to say out loud that it reminded us of cherished childhood memories
• Beautiful presentation combined with carefully selected
• Silly and measly portions dressed up with pretention to rip off people who like to call themselves 'foodies'
• Basically we had a good time because we were treated really nicely
• INK (Bethnal Green) is co operatively owned so you have ample opportunity
• Shows up in the care and attention that is paid to every little thing
• The dishes are more complex than usually
• Due to the mix of flavours and in such cases if anything is slightly off
• The space itself is very modern and at first it feels a bit cold
• Were beautifully presented and perfectly cooked and combined especially with the sweet puree &ndash
• T think that the presentation was on par with the scallops &ndash
• M supposed to have it with the tomato skins
• The flavour was way too strong for me
• I realize that this is the way that it&rsquo
• I was completely in love with my friends&rsquo
• The pork belly with the apple textures and the au jus
• The restaurant is a little treasure
• Due to its hidden location it feel secluded and you kind of forget you are in Bethnal Green
• The my serving of meat was about four matchboxes
• My companion was furious that his main of plaice was three little bits of fish weighing maybe 15 grams each
• We asked for bread was but was told they had run out
• I do concede that what little food we got was quite tasty
• The portions were the smallest i ever had in a restaurant
• Starter was 4 small aspergus heads with some salted egg yolk
• So both starter and 'mains' were the size of a really very small tapas maybe
• To read my complete review with more photographs go here
• After my smartphone map app took us took to the center of an isolated park we were lucky to get directions from a local
• The minimalist interiors and the modern space are in stark contrast to where this restaurant is located
• Pancetta crumble and tomato crumble served with delicious onion and edible flowers and hubster ordered for the soup of the day
• My scallops went down well with my white wine and I was hungry for more
• I like my steak well done and the 28 day dry aged 8oz sirloin steak with 3 types of mushrooms was perfectly done
• Hubsters main of braised lamb cooked in oyster juice and wrapped in a cabbage leaf was so soft and tender it simply melted in our mouth
• We decided to come to this restaurant after reading about it in TimeOut and it turned out to be the best restaurant experience I had so far in London
• The restaurant is in East London and you wouldn't come across it unless you knew about it as it's not on the main road
• The interior is very basic and it looked almost half empty when we first came in but I quite liked the clean walls and low lights as they gave a romantic feeling of intimacy to the place
• Both our starters of scallops and cured salmon were delicious and well presented
• My main of lemon sole was light and refreshing and the fish was very fresh
• They only had a choice of two desserts when we went so we ordered both and they were both ideal to end the meal
• Also the restaurant is through a park next to a canal and once you're in you almost forget you're still in London
• Scallops nicely done with burnt onion and peach
• Salted cod with tomato textures really nice
• Chocolate soil with gel stunning
• We wandered up to what we thought was Olive restaurant
• We were made to feel very welcome and the waiter was extremely attentive and informative
• The chef was kind enough to offer us a glass or two of wine on the house when we had finished (I believe this was due to it being opening week rather than a regular tradition
• I have to agree if you're not familiar with the area like myself it is a bit of a tricky one to find but I used my common sense and my phone (Google maps)
• I decided to go for the scallops with peach for my starter and for the main 148h salted cod which was beautiful
• As previous people have stated the portions are not massive it's not a buffet style canteen
• It's a contemporary place with Nordic food with a twist
• My god which we were told had smoked cheese wrapped in summer berry 'gé
• Atmosphere and music hit the spot along with the delicious food and the view of the canal from the terrace was perfect
• Sea bass and pork belly the pork belly was particularly delicious and chocolate cake to share completed an excellent meal
• My dinner at newly opened INK was a sheer delight
• D just like to say that I was simply glad to be at INK sitting on its deck having a glass of wine
• D ordered and served with home made butter as well as rendered pork fat with fresh herbs and leek ash was something of a thrill for the taste buds
• Braised beef with garden peas
• Kemey was equalling nomming it up with her choice of sea bream with ginger and passion fruit sauce
• I reckon the prices were rather generous and that to find this sort of cuisine elsewhere in London
• Every dish presented by INK was of an incredible standard on all terms
• T catch) was friendly and charming and also a little silly which is always welcome
• My other drink for the night was a robust picpoul while Stephen stuck with the sours
• Burnt onions were also conspicuous
• I got the scallops with peach puree
• Two fat scallops were perfectly cooked and the other flavours were exquisite
• The scallops were so soft that I really appreciated the extra texture (there&rsquo
• Stephen had finally decided he wanted the bone marrow and then we were told it wasn&rsquo
• He quickly chose the stone crab with textures of cucumber
• T something he usually likes but it was done in such a way that he was happy to eat it
• Our mains I had the signature dish of salted cod with textures of tomato
• The textures in this case were confit tomato (scraped of their annoying sludgy insides)
• On the side were the spheres of potato confit and there was also a light tomato oil that was startlingly good on the tongue
• By the end of it the salt was rather overwhelming
• Apparently this beef had been braised for three days but it was surprisingly dry and solid for something that&rsquo
• Presentation for this dish was far inferior to our other dishes
• The potatoes were strangely delicious though &ndash
• Our choices were basically textures of chocolate or textures of vanilla
• Creating bit of a woodland tableau with the two types of chocolate
• T go wrong with what is basically pure chocolate and this dessert did well enough to almost make Stephen forgive them his main
• The lack of diners when we were there would back this up
• There were only four other covers the whole time we were there and despite the easy listening background music and the canalside setting
• You'd be forgiven for thinking you were coming here to get a tattoo rather than a gastronomical experience but that is exactly what is happening at this unassuming canal side establishment
• INK is a cooperative of 3 which is on a Nordic inspired journey to revolutionise the definition of a "
• By offering tailored 7 course meals with wine pairing to your specifications
• I was invited to partake in a Zomato meet up event along with a handful of London's top bloggers an audience which would make any chef nervous given the scrutiny each dish was under
• Bone marrow stuffed radish with Nordic flatbread was the weakest dish of the night by quite a distance
• I thought it was just ho hum
• Handpicked Scottish scallop with burnt onion and peach puree
• This dish was a true indicator of what was to come fresh
• Sea salt blanched burnt lobster with pickled cucumber
• Cucumber puree and cucumber sorbet was the perfect dish to keep the momentum going after the scallops
• Pea puree served with a quail egg
• I'd been told Martyn was a master of puree and this dish certainly showed me why
• Garlic and celeriac puree and a butter sauce was EXQUISITE and absolutely my highlight of the night
• The texture of the monk fish was just fantastically complementary
• Butter and goose fat panfried goose with caramelised hazelnut
• Deconstructed chocolate cake with avocado chocolate mousse
• Chocolate ganache and chocolate covered popcorn was a great way to end the night
• Wasn't too heavy but was packed full of rich flavour
• A truly fantastic meal and that is even before I mention that this menu came with a wine pairing
• A little world is indeed contrived that excels in making you forget that you&rsquo
• 72 and comes with wine flight
• Guests can expect a series of innovative small plates that are perfectly formed
• Such as Norwegian flat bread with bone marrow stuffed radishes
• Scottish scallops with peach puree and burnt onions
• East London to me really is a kind of an alien world
• Mostly it's down to my hatred for the tube but also the idea of sitting on a bus for a couple of hours to East London is not the most attractive of transport methods
• I can't quite remember where i first heard about INK but social media was telling me to look forward to an exciting
• Well priced restaurant with a fine dining element and experimental cuisine i couldn't resist that temptation of finally getting the chance to make my way down after all this time
• The head chef here at INK is Lithuanian born
• Martyn loves to experiment in the kitchen here with unusual cooking methods
• INK have gone a few steps further than that and stuffed the centre of them with bone marrow and served alongside a traditional Nordic flat bread
• Now the flat bread is rather bland
• It's a nice idea but people paying money will in fact want something with more flavour and to be wowed
• What i have yet to mention is that all this food you're seeing is from the 72 hour menu
• Burnt onion and peach puree was actually a delightful plate of food
• Could have done with a little more heat through it went perfectly with the few burnt onions skins and the peach puree gave it a lovely zesty
• All of the dishes we ate was out of sync in terms of size
• Quite literally it was one mouthful
• Lobster with textures of cucumber was another lovely and refreshing dish
• Who's ever eaten a quails egg with the shell on before
• One thing i will comment on first are the new potatoes
• Tasting as if they came from a tin with a briny salted water flavour to them I'm not entirely sure how they were cooked
• Quails egg eaten with the shell on gave a lovely contrasting texture which quite literally disintegrates with the warmth of your mouth
• Loose peas and as a thick mouse like pea block were all together were stunning
• A helping of some sort of white sauce was added to the dish shortly after
• By this time the wine had certainly made it apparent that i was probably quite drunk now that and my attempt to finish off everybody else's glasses of wine
• Goose with popcorn and caramelised hazelnuts was paired with a beautiful Cotes du Rhone which went perfectly
• The caramelised hazelnuts were also nice but would have been better chopped finely around the dish
• The gravy on the other hand was worth licking the bowl
• The piece of monkfish was minuscule in size
• Even for a tasting menu portion but was cooked very well and had that meaty texture one should expect
• The avocado wasn't solely served or immediately apparent but instead mixed in with a gorgeous bitter chocolate
• A slight avocado creaminess could be detected but nothing that was too intense or offensive
• Presentation perhaps needed a little more work but importantly the flavour was there which is what really matters
• There is no denying that serious talent is lurking in the kitchens here at INK
• A friendly and infectious manager it is certainly a great new addition to Bethnal Green
• One thing to remember here is that INK has only been open since April and I'm sure it still has lots more potential
• Martyn Meyd is the protagonist and main character of this original fable
• There is the possibility to get as well a 72h tasting menu with a minimum of 72h notice
• Must Try the dessert with chocolate and avocado
• It's a shame that Ink restaurant is tucked away in the middle of an estate in East London
• 72 for 7 courses of personalised taster menu (you need to give 72 hours notice of your likes and dislikes) matched with wines also fantastic value for money
• We had radish stuffed with bone marrow to start
• Everything was cooked to perfection and the menu was full of interesting flavours
• The taster menu offers excellent value for money and if it was a bit more local
• I went here after a day of working with my colleagues
• When walking in the atmosphere is just great
• The only drawback I can find is that having a look at the entire menu some dishes are probably pricey
• The restaurant was pretty dead upon arrival
• Actually so much that we actually had to buy a chocolate bar after leaving the restaurant as the chocolate pear pudding was more akin to an M&
• The location is not a prime one and it is a little odd
• The food is excellent with wonderful flavours and is cooked to perfection
• The service is quite lovely as well
• Many of my friends recommended me about INK (Bethnal Green) and i was very keen to go here and check it myself
• The food here is very tasty and is definitely something new
• The service is very good here and the drinks are also good
• This was the second visit to INK (Bethnal Green) and it was as good as the first one
• Freshly cooked with wonderful flavour to it
• The service is pretty quick and efficient
• I assumed they would be picky with the amount they would serve
• The portions were smaller than I assumed
• My pork belly was so tiny probably around 80 grams
• I went in there with my friend and I a great evening after very long
• The food is delicious there and it is well presented too
• Salted cod was the best thing that I tried in ages it was really awesome
• The variety of desserts they provide you is also very good
• M surely coming over there again with a big group
• INK (Bethnal Green) emerges as a true winner for me as the place is simple and wonderful at the same time
• The food here is served impressively
• The food is excellent and is cooked to perfection with wonderful flavours to it
• The ambience is pretty relaxed and comfortable
• I would love to visit INK (Bethnal Green) again with friends and would recommend others to try INK (Bethnal Green) as well
• The quality of food was impeccable and I must say it was very well presented
• The dishes I had were quite amazing and the flavours were evenly spread out
• The location of this restaurant is also quite good offering some lovely views
• The food was exotic and fabulous with wonderful contemporary flavours to it
• The dessert was awesome and so far the best I have ever had
• The ambience was amazing with wonderful views and the service was pretty efficient with the staff being quite warm and friendly
• The prices are almost half as compared to some similar places
• We went there recently for dinner and weren't disappointed with our choice
• The scallops that we had were quite delicious and the other dishes that we tried were also equally good
• The entire meal was an absolute delight
• I must say that the decor was quite contemporary and overall
• INK (Bethnal Green) is located at a great place and has the potential to become the go to place for the locals but it has to improve the portion size substantially
• Our first experience here was a failure in booking a table
• Because it was reserved to capacity
• The ambiance is very homely and cozy
• We tried the scallops with peach and onion
• An asparagus dish with salted duck egg yolk and walnuts
• The dishes were perfectly prepared and beautifully presented
• The cod was the best I had ever tasted
• We had pear cheese with flowers for dessert
• The food tasted really nice and the taste was very authentic but the portions were very small as compared to the prices
• We were told that the bread was not available and we just wanted to pay the bill and leave
• We ordered dishes from the al a carte menu and all of them were quite good
• The ambiance is also great
• INK (Bethnal Green) was extensively advertised on social media and i was looking forward to an exciting
• Service as well was prompt and pleasing
• The one advantage you get is that you get to taste everything from the otherwise complicated menu
• I always enjoy tasting the different variety of dishes INK (Bethnal Green) serves in small portions as that is what makes the entire experience all the more interesting
• I recently tried INK (Bethnal Green) and it was quite a decent experience
• Especially the kebabs which were cooked to perfection
• The service was pretty efficient with the staff being quite warm
• Such a shame for if only a restaurant experience was solely determined by the food
• The restaurant was a bit difficult to find
• As for instance I felt like I was inconveniencing them by having to ask for bread and butter
• My favorite was the scallop starter with peach
• Burnt onion and pork crackling a great balance of textures and flavors with the scallops perfectly cooked
• There's a veranda with extra seating
• We sat down at our table and were presented with our menus
• The a la carte selection is relatively small
• Where there was only one option for dessert
• INK will create a seven course meal for you with each course matched to a glass of wine
• This restaurant is all about simplicity stripping back dishes so that they celebrate the distinct textures and flavours of particular ingredients
• While this may suggest that dishes are overly simplified
• The minimalist decor of INK was starting to make sense
• Peach and pork crackling simultaneously soft yet crunchy this was a strong start for our evening
• I love any dish where beetroot is the champion
• I was delighted that this delicious vegetable was the star in two of our dishes at INK
• As both starters were on the small side
• Pan fried duck breast with vanilla and beetroot
• Well seasoned duck with every other element on the plate perfectly complementing the protein I was a happy girl
• Chris' main was braised beef with seasonal vegetables
• Getting carried away with our foodie adventure at INK
• The combination alone was too novel to pass up
• Salted chocolate with pork crackling
• The uniqueness of its location may just be another appealing quality along with the rave reviews and positive word of mouth generated by the people who've already visited
• While a visit to INK is not necessarily a cheap experience
• Bethnal Green was my old stomping ground as I spent three years there for university and back then
• Describing itself as a contemporary restaurant with a Scandinavian influence
• The night itself was slightly less remarkable
• We were the first table of three eating that evening meaning the atmosphere was severely lacking
• We got to the serious decision of ordering drinks I chose the Italian prosecco but we were told they'd run out so were served a Spanish cava still reassuringly bubbly
• A pair of spoons with a bitesize portion of gravlax
• Pickled cucumbers and squid ink was brought to the table
• Instead I went for the cured venison with textures of beetroot prettily served with lots of colour and cubes but rather stingy on the meat itself
• Burnt onion and pork crackling which was definitely the better dish out of the two
• Well cooked scallops were perfectly complemented by the crispy onion and crackling and I could have gladly eaten this dish for days
• Onto the mains and my first choice of halibut with pine tree salt
• 22) was off the menu so I opted for the 148 hour salted cod with tomato textures
• The fish was firm and full of flavour and worked well with the roasted
• S picked the most melt in the mouth pork belly and potatoes and I was struck with serious food envy
• We shared the salted chocolate mousse and crumb which was definitely a fork fight moment
• The presentation impeccable and I love how independent restaurants are starting to flourish in East London
• INK (Bethnal Green) seemed to be up to scratch with the London eating scene
• The restaurant was empty and the waiter catered to me immediately
• Most tables were offered an amuse bouche to keep them well
• The waiter was confused with who ordered what
• My pork belly was wonderfully melt in mouth
• Each component of my meal was far too over salted something I would have thought unnecessary for a pork dish and there was nowhere near enough greenery nor gravy for my liking
• I can imagine ROI for its chosen location peaking during Summer when the weather is conducive to al fresco dining and you can actually see the canal
• Almost Zen like idea was eerily refreshing and seeing it transcend in the menu was a good thing
• Surely the chefs are focused here
• Slightly disappointed with the lack of crackling on the pork belly (how can you serve pork belly without crackling
• Finding that the gallery containing such works was located in my city
• The 72 hour menu is named this as it is created and devised 72 hours in advance
• Pouring rain with steaming windows
• Traffic jams and near misses with careless drivers
• This truly is a foodie destination
• Perfect for someone with an open mind willing to try new combinations of food
• The beautifully plated Nordic inspired cuisine at INK is definitely worth the visit
• Done away entirely with an ala carte menu
• Opting instead to serve a 5 course tasting menu with wine pairing (one red and one white) for £
• The fresh produce is painstakingly sourced on the day for INK's tasting menus in fact
• Chef Martyn Meid was so unhappy with the state of the frozen fish at Billingsgate (this was at 3 a
• He decided to visit the butchers at Smithfield instead (I was thoroughly impressed by his commitment at this point)
• Soft egg and matcha yogurt with a pinch of tomato powder
• The dessert (which was misleadingly named "
• Walking up to the restaurant was a whole different experience it looked trendy and was next to a canal with house boats parked nearby and appeared much more inviting than I had feared
• M trying to say is that it was quite trendy
• As you would expect from a trendy restaurant we were handed a menu with no prices
• It turns out the is a starting course
• The soft egg and matcha yoghurt that accompanied it were tasty and really added a depth of flavour to the gem lettuce
• The lettuce itself had been grilled so is wasn&rsquo
• The beef was so tender it just separated with the fork and practically melted in my mouth
• The potatoes were crispy yet fluffy on the inside
• White radish and cucumber was also cooked to melt in the mouth perfection
• Beautifully presented creation within which each mouthful was full of the right proportions of flavour
• On this occasion it was soft and tangy and I enjoyed the taste
• It was especially good mixed with the soft cheese and the egg snow which was like eating a cross between icing sugar and regular sugar
• Though based on the way the menu was explained to us you&rsquo
• The courses are very small as you would expect at a trendy restaurant that updates its menu with the seasons
• I sort of wish there were more choices but the truth is I enjoyed the dishes I chose and it was a really nice dinner out
• Had I not been invited and was just looking for a menu to try I'm not sure I would have picked it as it's not my typical fare
• I was surprisingly satisfied with the portions
• Even liked the ambiance (even if the stark white walls were a bit of a shock when we first sat down)
• The restaurant is hidden in the corner of the street so it wasn't easy to find and I wished that they gave me some directions when I booked for it
• The highlight of the dinner was the pork belly which melts in my tongue accompanied by pearl barley
• Wine selection was excellent but service could've been better as the gap between each dishes was quite noticeable
• I think the restaurant is still new and could use a bit more refinement
• Their food is visually stunning and they have pretty good reviews on here
• The restaurant was in the middle of nowhere
• 12.50 for a service charge when I felt they couldn't have cared less whether we were there or not
• The first course was a bland cucumber dish a few different types of cucumber all lacking flavour and texture
• The mullet fish with barley risotto had wayyyyyy too much garlic which overpowered everything in the dish
• The saving grace was this one dish
• The pork belly with chocolate and chicory which was beautiful
• The dessert was lovely too but not enough for me to recommend anyone to go and spend the money here
• If I could turn back time I would have stayed in Soho and spent much less money with better service

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