Restaurant Preview Night - Pizza East Portabello Road

On Wednesday 18th May I had the good fortune to be invited to the menu testing night of a new restaurant, Pizza East, on the corner of Portabello and Golborne Road. Pizza East has spent eighteen months feeding the Shoreditch crowd, so this venture West is a new and exciting prospect. When I first arrived I was struck by the buzzing crowd of attractive foodies, all eager to try the new menu. I met my friends at a round, marble-topped table in the corner. The restaurant prides itself on its 'shabby chic' decor, stating that, "...the interior has been stripped back to reveal the building's original features with vintage furniture, exposed brickwork and distressed panelling throughout," which is certainly an accurate description, at the time it still seemed to be in the finishing stages of its refurbishment from being The Fat Badger pub.  

The Australian waitress came and took our drinks orders (a bottle of bubbly and a round of cocktails) and offered us the menu. As it was the preview night, the whole bill (amazingly) would be cut by 90%. So, spurred on by this and ever the opportunists, we merrily decided to try everything on the menu. We instantly decided that we wanted the ox tail, but were quickly informed that it had sold out. We would have to be quick to reap the benefits of this night. Our selection of starters included:

• Smashed Pollack mixed with butter beans (absolutely delicious)
• Meat balls (large and with an unctuous tomato sauce)
• Langoustine with samphire (claws, with no implements with which to crush them, which was rather disappointing)
• Charred squid (stunningly tasty, with my idea of the perfect mix of smoky and sweet, without a hint of rubber)
• Garlic bread (powerful, that's all I will say!)

For mains, again, we declared that we wanted to try everything, but, alas, our full stomachs kicked in, and we realised that we would have to temper our enthusiasm somewhat, so we decided to 'just' have one main course each. Becky chose the veal pizza; George chose a Parma ham pizza and Matt had a meatball pizza. I had roast chicken; including the leg, the wing and the breast, all beautifully cooked with a sweet, winey sauce. As accompaniments there were golden roast potatoes and a selection of vegetables. I also had a tomato salad which consisted of purple, yellow, orange and red tomatoes, drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkling of coarse salt. It looked beautiful, but it was a tad flavourless, but Becky wolfed it down, declaring it to be perfect.  

After a round of Mojitoes to clear the palate, we had a selection of puddings to share, including:

• Rich chocolate pot
• Zingy lemon pot
• Sponge with raspberry sauce
• Salted chocolate and caramel slice
• Classic cheesecake

The puddings were all rich, and scrummy, so it was clear that I wasn't going to pass any of them up, so I had one spoonful of each, and left the restaurant full to bursting. I had a food hangover for three days afterwards, but it was the most wonderful evening, filled with three of my favourite things - friends, food and fizz!

Thanks to George for the photos :)