Planque London: Tasting the Unexpected

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Planque London
Planque London

It all started with a chance encounter. Bryan was attending a dinner organized by one of our food & wine loving friends in Hong Kong. I was out of town, so I couldn’t make it. At the dinner, Bryan meet a lady who happened to be visiting from the UK.

“Oh, I’ll be visiting London next week. Where should I eat?” Bryan asked her.

Out of all the places she could choose from, she just recommended one place: “Go to Planque.”

Planque London

There seem to be a lot of restaurants tucked away under railway arches in London, and Planque is no exception. Located in Haggerston, Planque is a bit “off the beaten path”, a bit further out from the center of London.

Planque is a restaurant as well as a wine members’ club. Chef Seb Myers, formerly of P. Franco and Chiltern Firehouse, helms the kitchen. His menus are known to change weekly —sometimes daily—as he experiments with seasonal produce and flavor pairings. According to the server, items come off and on almost daily.

The Meal

Planque London
We began with the House Sourdough Bread, which was insanely good. Perfectly crusty on the outside, soft and almost “steamy” on the inside. It came with a lovely cultured butter that had just the right amount of tang.
Planque London
Creamy, smoky Trout Rillettes were spread onto toasty linseed crisps and topped with popping roe, creating a satisfying mix of textures and flavors.
Planque London
These golden Chickpea Panisse “fries” came topped with a piece of salty anchovy and cream.
Planque London
This Radicchio salad came with paper thin Jerusalem Artichoke chips and Corra Linn, a mellow, nutty sheep’s milk cheese.
Planque London
The Cured Sea Bream was silky and clean, complemented by bitter endive, hazelnut oil, and lemon juice for an unexpected but delicious combination.
Planque London
Smoked eel & laverbread rice was one of the most memorable dishes for me. It had only been added to the menu a few days earlier, and I feel lucky to have tried it! It may not look particularly special, but It was really the umami-rich seafood rice mixed with laverbread (a Welsh seaweed paste) whose flavors really exploded. The green sauce was so intensely flavorful and delicious. I wished I had bread to sop up every bit of that beautiful sauce.

I still think about that dish . . .

Planque London
The Guinea Fowl dish, (our “main” dish) was like spring in a pan: juicy Guinea Fowl paired with earthy morels mushrooms, all brought together with a fragrant wild garlic sauce.

General Thoughts – Planque London

I loved this place. It made me realize that a good recommendation is worth so much more than all the research I could do on the web. This was probably one of my favorite restaurants from this London trip (and I stayed an entire week!).

Planque London

I love how Chef Seb Myers continues to invent and change the menu. The creativity keeps the place interesting. I also like the format of the menu, with lots of smaller bites and no rules about what section from which to order. In fact, the menu is just a long list of dishes that roughly get a bit larger as you go down the menu. But they were clear to tell me I could order whatever I wanted.

I wanted to come back again in the same week, but it was hard since it is a bit further away from the center of London. Next time I return to London, I’ll try really hard to visit again!

Planque London
322-324
Acton Mews, London

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