Very tasty food with a strong visual statement.
Attracted by some positive comments online and an attractive though short menu, we made our first visit on a busy Saturday lunchtime. Looking at the place, it generates a feeling that perhaps its all about the look (unremittingly industrial and black, strong hints of abandonment) rather than the food, and attracting a young clientele exclusively. Nevertheless its a look we like; though it comes in different forms. Dabbous for example is perhaps the "Regent Street" of the reconstructed industrial environment. Smokestak is Bethnal Green- no more authentic, but less smooth.
The food here is good. We sampled eight different dishes, shared most of them, in an attempt to get a good handle on the variety of the food coming off the barbecues. The crispy ox-cheek ( one of their nibbles) were outstanding, as were the charred greens Nothing was less than decent. Given our time again I'd by-pass the monkfish ( this type of cooking seems to do nothing more for it than more conventional grilling or pan-frying) and focus exclusively on the meat & veg and the wild mushroom on toast & dripping. Possibly best not to take your doctor along as your lunch guest here! Our 8 dishes and a bottle of wine came to £85 with service which we felt was decent value.
We were the oldest here by a bit , but frankly were used to that and it doesn't faze us at all. We enjoyed the lunch and will enjoy it better when Crossrail provides a more convenient way to live in Berkshire but eat in east London. Right now it takes us longer to get to lunch than it does to eat it; but then we don't really feel we can keep an eye of what's going on in London without passing east of Liverpool Street. We'll go back.