PISTACHIO&PICKLES (Supper Club –Plaistow)

Supper Club,35 pounds/head minimum donation,BYO

It is Saturday,it is cold and dark and it is one of those days where I am still wearing my pajamas at 5 pm. I really don’t want to leave the house and venture into the unknown East (of London). But I have already agreed to visit the new supper club of my charming twitter friend Matt,so I finally manage to remove my lazy self from the sofa. Luckily,the warmth and generosity of our hosts quickly lightens up the chilly November night. Also very welcoming is the dog –a beautiful Hungarian Vizla named Cooper,who we immediately make friends with.

Pistachio &Pickles has only opened a couple of months ago but it runs very smoothly. We are greeted with a glass of bubbly and are then seated at a beautifully decorated table. The theme is ‘Diwali‘(the Indian Christmas/NewYear) and the decoration as well as the menu are Indian-inspired with the subtle smell of incense sticks,Indian tunes in the background and Indian bangles as napkin rings.

With supper clubs you can be lucky or not so lucky firstly regarding the food and secondly regarding the company. The latter of course can not be influenced too much by the hosts,although it might be the case that nice people attract a nice crowd. And a nice crowd it is –my best friend Naomi (she is not a blogger yet),Fernandez &Leluu,DNAequalsfood,Vintage Macaroon and some more lovely people. I am so glad I left my sofa!

The menu looks promising and a lot. I am glad I had a very light lunch. We start with popadoms and (of course!) PICKLES. I particularly liked the red one –with loads of chili and garlic  it was hard to stop eating it. The mango chutney is fruity and sweet with the taste of summer. The least convincing is the coconut one which,even though it has an interesting texture and is definitely not unpleasant,could have done with a bit more seasoning.

Then the Bonda…I have no idea what to expect. The little potato dumplings are surprisngly fluffy and light and nicely seasoned with Indian herbs.

The perfect winter warmer is the spicy lentil soup (Dhaal). One of my favourite dishes of the evening it is simple but absolutely hits the spot –comforting and with exactly the right amount of spiciness. If I had someone to cook this for me every day it would make the depressing long winter so much more bearable…! (this is a subtle hint Matt:)

Now the ‘English Night’–Fish Fingers and Salad Cream. Matt tells us the charming story about his Indian friend (who is present at the dinner table) who grew up in England and never particularly liked Indian food. So once in a while when his mother had enough of this whinging she prepared one (!) fish finger for him,the highlight of his early culinary life. This fish finger has little to do with the frozen supermarket version:tender salmon in non-greasy batter is served with something that looked like salad cream but is actually a yoghurt based sauce. I don’t leave a crumb and I am not sure I can fit anything more into my belly?

But the food keeps coming…  I have never eaten pigeon before,never quite got the picture of the ‘flying rats’out of my head. But away with the prejudices and let’s happily dive into the wood pigeon served with small squares of potatoes and coconut covered carrots as well as lingonberry masala. The pigeon is a dark red medium rare and tastes completely different than I have anticipated with a strong gamey flavour which goes perfectly with the spicy and fruity massala. Delicious.

One more dish before the dessert. Home-made paneer with tomato and onion pickle. I am amazed how nice the texture of the paneer is,however it is slightly bland. But maybe it’s just because I can’t eat anything more?

I AM SO FULL. I will just try a little bit of the dessert…belbinca cake and PISTACHIO kulfi. Bebinca is a traditional Goan dessert made of sugar,clarified butter coconut milk and egg. It was rich,sweet and naughty and I can’t leave anything behind. This is before Matt tells us that he used 20 egg yolks for it…

The meal finishes with Chai and Gulab Jamum which are basically Indian donuts drenched in sugar syrup. I have to give up,I can’t  eat them anymore,sorry Matt! And here you see him,all smiling because we liked his food so much!

Pickles &Pistachio deserves to be successful. It is hosted by people who love food,know how to prepare it and have an exceptional attention to detail. Not only in the preparation of their dishes but also in the decoration,the little goodie bag (with more pistachio and pickles)  we received upon leaving. Just be warned:this supper club kills every diet for weeks. But it’s worth it!

• Food: 8/10
• Ambiance:8/10
• Service:8/10
• Value for money: 9/10
• Chances of returning: 90%
• Verdict:a gem of a supper club,highly recommended!

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