Who says you don't eat well in London? According to Michelin, it is one of the metropolises with the most starred restaurants (80), below Tokyo and Paris and above New York. Appreciation that confirms the planetary top 50 Best, whose list is distributed among 35 locations in 24 countries, with the British capital being one of the most pampered cities – along with Lima, Mexico City, Paris and Tokyo –, with three representatives located among the best of the world.
Sharing status with its fellow citizens Kol (in 23rd place) and Ikoyi (in 35th), both with a much more adventurous gastronomic proposal, the third London culinary temple graced by the ranking prepared annually by William Reed with the votes of 1,080 international experts is the very British The Clove Club (38), a restaurant with evolved cuisine run by Scottish chef Isaac McHale and which has occupied the historic rooms of Shoreditch Town Hall, northwest of the City, for almost a decade.
The Clove Club is part, in its own way, of that movement to recover the lost flavors of the United Kingdom that has come to be called modern British cooking, privileging local products and seasonal recipes, with an undeniable fondness for the homeland of its chef-owner. This dining room with an open kitchen, very high ceilings and large windows, with a sober decoration and high-school service in a relaxed key, has been part of the 50 Best selection for seven years, which in its latest edition highlights “its refreshing interpretation full of surprises of British cuisine, with fresh products from all over the country reinvented in creations that present natural flavors and are playfully mixed with tradition.”
Their tasting menu changes according to the calendar and adapts to diners' appetites in eight-course (£195) or six-course (£155) formats, both with an extra option of liquid accompaniment, which may include a selection of wines, but also cocktails, beers, sakes, infusions... or a mixture of all of this. According to Michelin inspectors, “the balance and variety of the menu, together with a highly motivated kitchen team, capable of creating impressive dishes where each element has a purpose,” are the factors that have earned it the two stars that It has been in the red guide since 2022. With such business cards, who wouldn't want to come and find out? Well there we went.
Before recounting our visit, allow me to put the figure of Isaac McHale in context. Born in the Orkney Islands (north of Scotland), raised in Glasgow – where he discovered his cooking vocation at the age of 14 – and trained in prestigious places such as Noma (Copenhagen), In De Wulf (Heuvelland, Belgium), Eleven Madison Park (New York), Tom Aikens and The Ledbury, started The Clove Club project with his partners Daniel Willis and Johnny Smith. The trio used to organize pop-up dinners in places in the east-end of London, until in 2013 the opportunity arose to open a stable restaurant on the side of Shoreditch Town Hall, with listed building status. Far from calling a financial investor, they successfully launched crowdfunding among friends.
The choice of Shoreditch is a declaration of intentions: an old popular neighborhood that has gentrified in recent decades with the appearance of brand new condominiums for well-paid young professionals and numerous bars, trendy but not posh. After all, we are in the east-end, a once marginal area where Cockney and Bengali were mostly spoken, but which today houses bourgeois apartments, art galleries and restaurants run by television star Jamie Oliver.
Perhaps that is why, since its foundation, The Clove Club has divided its space between the bar area, for more informal snacks, and the gastronomic dining room. A dual proposal that McHale is now considering liquidating to definitively concentrate on fine dining.
Once seated at the table, we order the long menu and put ourselves in the hands of the sommelier to give us a drink. And the agape begins with a succession of more than notable appetizers: a cup of green herb broth with a background of white miso is a start that evokes homeliness with a chlorophyll flavor. Behind the windows, the rain is falling and London is as humid as usual, so there is nothing better to get into the situation.
It is followed by a delicate beet tartlet, served at the same time as a nice fried chicken with a touch of pine salt; then a Cornish crab dumpling with an elderflower hollandaise and a spiced soup from the crustacean itself; finally, a beet and apple gazpacho that mixes the granita with a smoky, charcoal-infused cream.
We start with the dishes: smoked Wiltshire trout with almond milk, watercress and sturgeon caviar, with a perfect, very pink cooking point, crispy skin and the sweet, spicy and salty contrast of its accompaniments. The raw Orkney scallop that follows is seasoned with hazelnut, clementine, mushroom slices and black truffle in a disturbing play of color contrasts and black-and-white flavors. It's the turn of a (very good) sourdough bread with a matured cream that acts as butter. Another feast for the senses in a humble key. The sea bass with soy, ginger and sudachi – the most acidic Japanese citrus – comes paired with a glass of Tregothnan Manuka spiced tea, which works as a perfect parenthesis of freshness and fusion.
The small Torbay shrimps are another must on the menu, with the raw tails, bursting with a sweet and iodized flavor, on a powerful emulsion of yolk and long Cambodian pepper and their fried heads on the side. If we add an orange wine from Oslavia made by Radikon to the glass, the harmony is unsurpassed. This is followed by a Cornish monkfish ear, fried whole with spices, on a potato velouté with three-cornered garlic (Allium triquetrum), a tasty wild stem also known as 'Tears of the Virgin' that vigorously enhances the fish.
Is there room for a couple of passes of meat? Of course! The crispy pork jowl is macerated with bay leaf, star anise, orange peel and rosemary to finish confitting at low temperature overnight. Served with a reduction of rancid wine vinegar and some pieces of rhubarb and roasted apple, the harmony of fat, spices and acids is prodigious. As our visit took place in February, the hunting season that Isaac likes so much had already ended, so the main carnivorous piece was a roast Herdwick lamb, with very pink meat, accompanied by kale and a bun stuffed with Scottish stew. par excellence, haggis.
For dessert, a couple of classics from The Clove Club: first, a grilled habanero chilli granita, with sheep's milk yogurt and a sour berry sorbet, which acts as a sharp stimulant; Then, a warm potato mousse with coffee meringue, caramel ice cream, English truffle and black truffle slices, to be eaten by the hand. Finally, with the coffee, a trio of petits fours, highlighting a very Scottish peated barley sponge cake with orange cream that harmonized wonderfully with the Somerset cider brandy.
You couldn't ask for more from this immersion in contemporary British cuisine, based on dishes that are as intuitive and friendly as they are complex and sophisticated. It is a happy and comforting meal, which can be enjoyed without thinking, but which hides behind it a lot of reflection and intention. Within its studiously informal service style directed by Iraia Ibargurengoitia from Mondragon and the apparent simplicity of its dishes, The Clove Club is an authentic Champions League culinary destination.
