We Ate A Theatrical Seven-Course Tasting Menu In An Old Brewery

Tasting menus can be expensive. If you’re like me - they’re usually reserved for special occasions. Like birthdays or anniversaries, when you shell out for your boyfriend while your bank account asks you ‘what on earth are you doing’. Well, let me tell you about London Stock. Tucked away in an old brewery in Wandsworth’s Ram Quarter, this cosy fine dining restaurant boasts a seven-course menu for just £75. Described as modern British fine dining coupled with innovative Asian cooking techniques, I dropped by after work to dive into their latest tasting menu. Spoiler alert: it was nothing short of excellent. 

London Stock's restaurant is paired back and lets the food to all the talking.

Shown to our seats for the evening, it wasn’t long before the attentive staff at London Stock had our empty tables full of shiny plates and ramekins. Two side plates of laminated brioche rolls punctured with diamonds of sea salt came accompanied by homemade candied olive butter alongside two miniature amuse-bouche filled with asparagus cream, topped with black pearls of caviar. Palates cleansed, we clinked two large glasses of white wine and waited for our first course. Yes, our first course.

The red mullet is one of the stars of the show when it comes to the chef's cooking techniques.

The smoked burrata was a strong start to the restaurant's tasting menu as it played with lots of different textures, the light and gooey burrata (that was smoked with pine that morning) clashed against the sturdy bed of pistachio and praline in surprising harmony. I’d go as far as describing the next dish - the red mullet, as a fine piece of 3D art. A long stem of pink, cooked rhubarb separated the rose and rhubarb foam from the white rectangle of soft fish that had a perfectly tiled roof of curled, crunchy scales. This was achieved by using an Asian cooking technique with oil hotter than the seven rings of hell. The first time I’ve ever seen anything like it, the results were incredible, turning something I usually dislike into a welcomed crunch that carried an impact. The duck breast was another theatrical display with five disks of meat neatly positioned in the middle of a sauce-splattered plate.

Expect to feel like a VIP at this hidden gem in Wandsworth.

Deep breaths in and glasses refilled, we reminded ourselves that we were in for a marathon, not a sprint before welcoming the fourth and possibly my favourite course of the whole evening: the risotto. It came layered with a light but powerful parmesan foam, soaked in a rich béarnaise sauce with long ribbons of green asparagus. Officially halfway through, we sliced our knives through a scallop topped with dry olives and capers. It was presented on a scallop shell that rested atop a deep plate filled with dinky spiral shells (the kind that wouldn’t look too out of place on a friendship bracelet).

It’s at this point - six dishes in, eight if you count the brioche rolls and the amuse bouche - where we in runners' terms, ‘hit the wall’. Without sounding too dramatic, I’m so surprised the white middle pig didn’t finish us off. Aged for 55 days, the meat in this dish was created to have a high-fat content, bringing an extra flavour on top of what was already a top-quality cut of meat. Last but not least, the final dishes: ‘coconut’ which was served with a blood orange sauce and ‘malt’. A chocolate fiend’s wet dream, this crowning jewel to London Stock’s tasting menu had a hazelnut chocolate sponge, topped with praline Chantilly, a ring of dark chocolate and caramelised hazelnut, finished with caramelised malt.

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Is it sad when a chef can curl fish scales better than you can curl your own hair? Possibly, but for now I’m too in awe of London Stock’s cooking techniques to get upset. The tasting menu at this hidden gem, when you look at the quality and care that goes into each and every single dish, is an absolute steal. The servers were unbelievably knowledgeable about the food and answered every question we fired their way. I left feeling full, satisfied and frankly, feeling like I deserved a medal after what felt like a marathon of mouthfuls, but more importantly feeling like I needed to spread the word about this undiscovered hub of creativity.