The counter or chef's table being set up ready for its 16 nightly diners.
What do we need to know about Counter 71?
This is a new restaurant in Old Street from chef Joe Laker, who used to be head chef of the well-respected (but now closed) Fulham restaurant Fenn. Here in East London, he's opened an all-counter dining restaurant which has just one dinner sitting a night, serving 16 guests. Chef Joe also worked at Anglo and St Leonards and his team reflects that, including sous chef Michael Miles (Manteca, Fenn and St Leonards) and Harry Cooper who heads up the front of house (Fenn, Anglo, Picture).
Where is it exactly?
You'll find it a five-minute walk from Old Street roundabout (and tube) on Nile Street. It's taken over the old Duke of Wellington pub premises.
Where should we meet for a drink first?
Handily, they've also opened a cocktail bar underneath the restaurant. Low Country is run by Savannah-born mixologist Ryan Sheehan. Here, they have three cocktail menus on offer - classic, historical and signature.
Low Country is the downstairs cocktail bar
As they had literally only opened for business for the first time ten minutes before we arrived, the latter menu wasn't on offer. But our daiquiri, made with Hampden Estate 8-year-old rum was so pitch-perfect for a bar so newly opened that we'll have to come back and try a lot more.
There are also going to be bar snacks on offer down here created by the kitchen team - look out for shrimp & grits prawn toast and fried okra coming your way.
We particularly enjoyed our daiquiri made with rum from Jamaica's oldest distillery
So, what kind of food is it?
Counter 71 is a multi-course tasting menu experience costing £110. If you've been to Fenn, Anglo or St Leonards, all of those will give you clues to the kind of food that you'll find here. It's ultra seasonal as well as making the most of bottling and preservation techniques to use some ingredients out of season. Everyone sits up at the marble counter and while there's a back kitchen doing all the key stuff, much of what you'll eat is finished and plated in front of you.
Dinner begins with a procession of inventive snacks and tiny plates like a langoustine and crab custard and a tiny tart of veal tartare with fermented chilli and bone marrow, in addition to the following.
Carrot taco with chicken thigh, red oak lettuce and Caesar cream. Such a delicate and clever dish.
English muffin topped with smoked egg, truffle and watercress.
Following the procession of snacks, you move to more substantial dishes, all of which showcase what's in season but also the skills of the kitchen. So the tomato dish has been worked on for weeks experimenting with the effects that different degrees of dehyration have on the texture and taste.
A bowl of Nutbourne tomatoes, some dehydrated for a couple of hours, some a couple of days and varying times in between with a rhubarb and elderflower dressing.
The bread course - soda bread and Parker house rolls served with both cultured and wild garlic butter.
Smoked eel with an eel and turnip veloute with both barbecued and pickled kohlrabi. A dish that challenges your perception of what it'll taste like - it looks SO beige but is a total smoky hit.
Cornish squid in a mushroom broth with girolles - save some of the bread to mop up every bit of this.
Poached cod with oyster veloute, oyster, lovage foam and lovage oil. Can we also take a moment to appreciate this bowl...?
Goosnargh duck served with caramelised onion, chive oil, pickled cherries and shallot with the deepest umami black garlic purée
Room for dessert?
We were admittedly getting full by this stage but you are 100% going to want to bring your A-game to this part of the menu because of the first cake and the petit fours following it.
This was SO delicious. Honey sponge with honey shortbread, raw honey, honeycomb, milk ice cream topped with a honey tuile
ALL the chocolate - 70% chocolate crumb, 80% chocolate parfait, 100% chocolate ganache and 48% chocolate aero with a yoghurt sorbet
And finally... the petits fours which consisted of a sublime fennel seed custard tart and a vanilla and cocoa ice cream sandwich.
What's the drinks list like?
We opted for the wine pairing which is £75 and features six glasses of wine at various stages during the meal. Highlights included a glass of 2016 sparkling rosé from Sussex vineyard Hindleap and a 2021 Bourgogne from producer Aline Beauné. There's also an interesting range of options by the glass and the list ranges in price from £35 for a Languedoc white to £224 for a Russian River Chardonnay from Aubert Wines. They also serve up a range of Saicho sparkling teas as part of the alcohol-free selection.
Overall thoughts:
If you're after all the finesse of a fine dining experience without the fuss, then Counter 71 will be right up your street. As an all-counter dining restaurant, it's great for those who like to see the creativity of a kitchen in action up close. There's an enormous amount of inventiveness in the food presented, but it's all done in a way that's both relaxed and fun.
More about Counter 71 and Lowcountry
Where is it? 71 Nile Street, London N1 7RD
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @counter_71.
Hot Dinners dined as guests of Counter 71. Prices correct at time of publication.
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