1901 Wine Lounge
In over 350 restaurants across the city this month, The London Restaurant Festival is here to give the most creative and innovative dining experiences. From Michelin star to corner favourites, restaurant-hopping tours to menu tastings, the exciting activities are specially designed and are only available throughout October.
“London Restaurant Festival [established 2009] takes place in the capital’s best restaurants across the city” – LRF
We were lucky enough to try out Andaz hotel’s, Eastway brasserie and 1901 Wine Lounge’s exclusive nibbles, menu and tailored Chilean wines as part of the unique event.
The five star luxury boutique hotel – situated on Liverpool Street – has partnered with the foodie festival and has curated a variety of limited menus in its range of venues including Eastway, 1901 Wine Lounge, Catch Lounge, George Pub and Miyako.
Eastway Brasserie
When we ventured to 1901 Wine Lounge, it was ambient and romantically lit, clean with a mix of contemporary but traditional décor – reflecting the hotels architectural history.
On arrival, we were treated to cloudy prosecco from Sottoriva a region in Northern Italy, which was light, refreshing and crisp. It was sealed with a novel lid and had to be opened with a bottle opener, our incredibly attentive waiter Raf, told us how authentic this was, much alike how Italian prosecco would have been sealed centuries ago. He informed us meticulously about the origins and processes of each wine we tried, including a subtly sweet muscadet and a complex sauvignon. Raf then brought octopus salad, light, flavoursome and drizzled with a rich basil oil – the entrée paired perfectly with the muscadet.
We were then introduced to some of the most special wines on offer at Eastway, all from the DeGras region in Chile including, a viognier, pinot noir and cabernet carmenere – our favourite, the pinot noir.
The carefully curated menu at Eastway had been thoughtfully chosen with three sumptuous options. We chose the pan roasted duck with caramelised carrot puree, roast carrot and fig jus, this had an artfully balanced sweet flavour, we also tried the grilled mackerel accompanied with samphire mash and mussel beurre blanc, which was perfectly cooked and very delicate.
Pan-roasted duck
Grilled mackerel
Our desserts were beautifully unique and exquisitely tasting; an earl grey crème brulee with lemon shortbread and honeycomb, and a salted caramel sundae with toffee popcorn, topped with slowly toasted chewy marshmallows.
A sweet note to a lovely evening filled with contemporary charms and surprises.
Creme brulee
Caramel sundae
Oh and this extremely instagram worthy coffee must not be kept a secret!
The restaurant, food, wine, staff and atmosphere was truly exceptional and having tried some of Andaz’s foodie festival options, I can’t wait to try the other carefully crafted delights at its other venues as well as exploring the festival throughout the city.
To book tickets or find out more about the festival, click here
