Cornerstone Hackney

This was our sixth visit to Cornerstone a place where we’ve always enjoyed some amazing fish , fabulous desserts and received very friendly service. Well I can tell you right here and now that the bar has definitely been raised to a new level. The fish & dessert dishes were still absolutely fantastic with even more amazing flavour but what really stood out was the service. There seemed to be a few more staff who were now dressed in a casual uniform that allowed them to concentrate more on the attention on detail to the diner. This I thought made it a more professional service without taking anything away from the friendliness that had always been there in the past.

We arrived on saturday after enjoying a nice walk through Queen Elizabeth park to Hackney Wick which is an area going through a huge development process which I’m sure will make the restaurant even more popular. We entered the restaurant to receive the usual friendly welcome and even received a quick hello from Chef/Owner Tom Brown himself before being escorted to our table. This was followed with a welcome back complimentary glass of champagne. We were then given the menu which are small plates that are designed for sharing. To our delight there were a lot of new dishes so therefore after a little chat about what we should choose we placed our order.

We started with the bread and butter which was accompanied by the Secret Smokehouse Cod Roe. This was closely followed with the Chalk Stream Trout Ham. The flavours were heavenly and our anticipation of what was to follow rose dramatically.

Cod Roe

Trout Ham

The next dish to arrive was the Herring “Escabeche” with Red Pepper & Saffron that really was bursting with flavour and quite refreshing on the palate. The following dish was one of the many highlights a stunning Grey Mullet Tartare with Egg Yolk , Seaweed & Soy. Next on the list was the Cured Gurnard with Beetroot , Borcht Dressing & Soured Cream. This led us to the last dish of this section and an old favourite the Mackerel Pate , Cider & Treacle Bread well you can’t not have it really.

Herring “Escabeche”

Grey Mullet Tartare

Cured Gurnard

Mackerel Pate & Treacle Bread

I have to say that also the pace of which the dishes arrived at the table was spot on as I know that some places that offer this style of menu can’t wait to serve all the dishes as quick as possible. This certainly wasn’t the case here and definitely another plus point to the more professional service on the day. So now to our next course which was the Orkney Scallop with Smoked Coral Oil & Preserved Lime. This led us to another highlight of the day the sensational Crab Crumpet , Rarebit & Worcester Sauce and oh my god it was simply heaven. We then finished the fish dishes with a beautiful Cornish Hake , Curry Sauce , Wild Rice & Lime Pickle.

Orkney Scallop

Crab Crumpet

Cornish Hake

Now it was time for one of my favourite pastry chefs Kelly Cullen to take over as we moved onto to first the Cheese Course of Blue Cheese , Rhubarb Chutney & Almond Cake a combination the really went well together. This led us onto the desserts where the two that arrived first were the Apple Pie , Custard Ice Cream & Apple Butterscotch and the Lemon Meringue Pavlova. These were followed by the White Chocolate & Mango Torte with Solero Ice Cream & Passionfruit. All three desserts as expected were absolutely delicious and all washed down with a glass of Port and an Old Fashioned cocktail.

Cheese Course

Apple Pie

Lemon Meringue Pavlova

White Chocolate & Mango Torte

We finished with a coffee to round off a truly memorable afternoon. I’d like to thank Tom and his team of young chefs for the amazing food , to Kelly for the fabulous desserts and to all the staff for the excellent friendly and professional service. This definitely was our best visit yet and look forward to returning again soon. With all this it won’t surprise you when I say that I would highly recommend a visit.

Old Fashioned

Petit Fours