Category:Brasserie 
We were actually trying to go to Zucca but they could not fit us in,so we ended up eating at Village East, a trendy cocktail bar/restaurant roughly opposite Zucca on Bermondsey Street. I like going there for cocktails actually,they do unusual combination with herbs (e.g. thyme,sage) and I love their gingerbread old fashioned. I had never eaten there before so it seemed a good idea to give it a try.
Can I just say –the best thing about this whole dinner experience was the service. They were very friendly. They brought me the wrong starter,they did not tell us about the specials and we waited for about 15 minutes for our bill but they were still the best thing by far. Especially as they agreed on accepting our taste London card (50% off food).
The whole place seemed strangely soulless and the food was expensive and not good. We started with a small portion of the Village Summer Salad (6.6). A few leaves of tasteless green salad were decorated with a blob of equally tasteless ricotta. There also were some lonely pomegranate seeds and an even more lonely single spear of asparagus. I could not detect any kind of dressing,after I put loads of salt on it was maybe not that healthy anymore but at least we could eat it. Considering that this salad costs nearly 7 pounds it just went straight to the top of my ‘worst salads I have ever eaten’list.
The other starter,Fig &gorgonzola salad (6.6.) was marginally better in comparison,at least it was not completely insipid (thanks gorgonzola!). But it was by no means a good starter either,they were too stingy on the figs and again I could have done with some kind of dressing.
This meal did not start well and it continued to spiral downwards from there.
The Black bream fillet (15.9) was maybe the best dish of them all. Having said this,it was overcooked and lacked any sophisticated flavours. The sepia ink around the plate looked cool (the presentation was in general really quite good) but did not add anything to the dish and together with the quite rustic potatoes it all seemed quite random.
The real disaster came in the form of veal escalope (17.2). I mean 17 pounds!! For a bland piece of meat with the texture of a shoe sole lying on beans that might be nice if you got them as part of your fry up in the morning when you have a really bad hangover. They should however not be anywhere close to a dish that claims to be part of a ‘modern and intelligent’cuisine. And what did they think in putting this celeriac mayonnaise thing on top? I mean really,who makes up these recipes? Apparently someone who should not have become a chef…
We would have been so annoyed if we had paid full price for the food. Cafe Luc in comparison,where I just ate a couple of days ago and which falls in a similar price category,is million times better and you get what you pay for.
I always wondered why Village East was on Toptable (40% off) and Taste London (50% off) –now I know. No one would ever go there otherwise. For me,even for a quarter of the price,I want to enjoy my food. Village East is a waste of money,time and calories.
- Food:2/10
- Service: 7/10
- Ambiance: 6/10
- Value for money: 2/10
- Chances of returning: for cocktails yes,for food 0%
- Verdict: avoid like the plague
What you say