Corner Room

Our first visit today, and the approach to the restaurant and indeed the building it sits in- looking rather like a 1950's National Coal Board Office where the staff just upped and left- belie what you're going to get. There are a few surprises-most of them good. The restaurant punches above its weight on food quality and originality. The breads were the best I've eaten in a while. They charge a flat £1 for still or sparkling water – as much as you want; the bottle of wine we enjoyed had more character and sheer enjoyment value than I've had in a restaurant for a little while, and the lunchtime deal is great value at £19/£23 for two or three courses though there are a few supplements. Finally the menu on the internet was the same as the menu we got on arrival- which is both increasingly rare and honest IMO. Inside the restaurant itself, the atmosphere is a little bare and rustic, though the tables are decently spaced and the display of pendant lights against an end wall adds considerable interest. The food itself could maybe be described as your favourite tapas bar meets modern european. Lots of ingredients, most of which you can taste clearly . Not swimming in sauces- just a little here and there to add interest, and quality meats served pink (even the pork). Both my starter of cuttlefish with salt-baked potatoes and a little paprika oil, and my main of Iberian pork with bitter leaves and a piquant winter relish, were extremely tasty and thoroughly enjoyable. Presentation is designer-casual. My wife enjoyed her aged pumpkin and aged beef dishes very much too, though her beef wasn't as tender as my pork. The aged thing was possibly appropriate as we could have probably given everyone else in the place 20 years and not missed them. She enjoyed her dessert too. The less good bits included my rather expensive English cheese plate – a bit dull, served from the fridge as if not many people choose it (and I shan't again) and served with oatcakes -does anyone know anything quite so boring as oatcakes? If i'd had my wits about me I'd have asked for more of the the bread I was so effusive about above. Then there was the fact that they don't have decaf – so we 'd have liked a coffee but had to go elsewhere for it. The service was nicely timed and perfectly polite, but somehow in a casual place like this one you kind of expect a few more smiles. Not at all grumpy, but the place could be a little more welcoming, thats all. The bill came to £93 of which about £10 has down to my mistake with the cheese. Will we go again? I'd be surprised if we didn't . It was good food and it was interesting- a most enjoyable lunch.

My review may be a little biased, this is a warning. The corner room used to be my “no-idea-where-to-book” go to restaurant. You can't book mind you but I was pretty sure we would be seated (or told “sorry, no chance”) within 30 minutes of showing up, which surely, is just perfect for a cocktail or two to pass the time and tease the hunger. To start with, you'll find the former breakfast room of the Town Hall Hotel on the first floor, round a corner, by the tapestry buck head (it makes sense when you see it). It's not big and it looks like just the pictures you can find on the internet. The service is generally laid back, helpful and friendly. At my last visit (we arrived just before 10.30pm on a Thursday night) all tables where occupied and they sat us for a drink in the adjacent room. It was dark, woody and leathery, the room not the drink with beautiful vintage furniture (it looked vintage anyway). When we made it to the table, we were famished and fell onto the delicious bread (from the E5 Bakehouse I believe) and the giant green olives stuffed with anchovies. We asked for some more and munched happily on them as we studied the menu. As a rule, I found, the food is just great, it looks amazingly fancy and pretty, the portions are deceptively sufficient and it's tasty. Not interesting (ok, that also), not crazy, tasty, which really is what you want. I found that desserts there are a tad hit and miss. My sweet-potatoes-popcorn -ice-cream-whatever was… well, interesting, crazy and pretty but not particularly tasty. Still, for the price, it's a very good deal !

After much hype, I found Corner Room somewhat disappointing. The rather austere, brightly lit room desperately needs to be full and buzzing to provide atmosphere, yet sadly only 3 table were occupied, giving the feeling of a schoolhouse dining hall. The service was extremely friendly, albeit not overly attentive, and our waitress delightful – however by own admission she knew nothing of the wines on the very short list (just 5 red/5 white) – all of which were rather leftfield choices and, having tried 3 of them, we were hugely unimpressed. The food I would describe as “good”, but little more; whilst beautifully presented, the “smoked yolk” in the steak tartare totally overpowered all other flavours and although the duck was cooked superbly well, the accompanying risotto was slightly underdone and a trifle bland. In short, I wouldn't rush back: £200 for 4 people (2 courses each; 3 bottles of wine) is by no means ridiculous but aside from the food's presentation, for less than this you can eat similarly well but in a better atmosphere and with a substantially preferable selection of wines in many decent gastropubs.

I recently took 2 clients to eat here and can honestly say that it was superb! The menu had an option for us all and as the food came out we tried a taste from each others plate leaving us looking forward to trying these on our next visit. The service was extremely helpful, and it was no problem to have an explaination for the whole menu as we were unsure of some of the dishes. I must agree with an earlier review and say the pork was lovely!

We recently had our evening ruined by this hotel restaurant. Now I eat out every week and generally have really good experiences everywhere I go; this was recommended by the timeout main review (not by users) so we went there. We waited 45 minutes in the bar for the table — and the bar was horrible – the cocktails were disgusting and overpriced. The bar was tiny and crowded – it took about 35 minutes for the cocktails to come and when they did we couldn't get halfway through them. When we got to the restaurant we waited over an hour for our food. I'm not kidding. The food looked ok, but by the time it came we were so hungry we didn't care what it looked or tasted like. Service charge is included so we paid about 50 quid for our two small mains and two glasses of wine, and water. I feel resentful at paying a penny for the service we received. So yes, definitely avoid this place, there are plenty of much better places in the area or nearby areas.

I just have to say that is the place for the best pork I have ever had. The Corner room is young in atmosphere, very relaxed with a vintage meet pop art feel. The staff is very helpful and the food is refined, I was not unhappy with anything. Will go again!

Sometimes getting to the place is half the fun… Nuno Mendez (he of Viajante and the Loft Project) brings you The Corner Room. A proper unmarked, no entrance, n information New York speakeasy of a restaurant hidden in a boutique hotel in Bethnal Green. Finding it is like playing hipster hide and seek. When you eventually guide your way through the too cool for signage, Wallpaper* fetishising hotel front of house that hosts the chic little bistro and breakfast room (if you can even guess the name of the hotel I'll be impressed) you arrive, weary and a little fecked off from the effort in a dainty white, light, tiled space, carved out of the surrounding institutional marble like a Habitat styled hobbit hole. Despite the eulogising that surrounds stablemate Viajante, the Corner Room is currently unmarked territory, certainly we had no problems with a 2 for 7, but it did fill rapidly and there's no booking. Get there early because let's face it, you're unlikely to be just passing. Starters come in around £6 and most mains are £12. Seasonal and interesting, a baby brother of the more studied El Bulli school influenced food artistry next door, I could have gone for any combination. You'll have to pop in and check the menu as they've got no phone number and no details on the website. I eyed up a wonderful dish of heritage (read weird coloured and shaped) tomatoes with mozzarella and what looked unseasonably like asparagus (caveat, was paying attention to my companion's conversation, may not have been asparagus) Judging by some of the more rabidly positive comments posted online already, one of the house hits looks to be a wonderfully balanced squid dish, meltingly tender tubes served with Jersey Royal potatoes, seaweed and samphire sitting on a slick of squid ink and a glorious fennel infused oil. It makes the other starter, a ceviche of stone bass, seem slightly muted. A good wedge of firm white fish, but none of the scattered oils and 'erbs really cut through with any conviction. It was a main of two halves too (slightly). Turbot poached with artichoke and pancetta was pleasant enough, it didn't set my world alight, but anywhere else would have been a solid thumbs up. Next to a slow cooked and pink centred lozenge of pork served with a Portuguese bread pudding it very much drifted into second place. The herby sponge is baked with red pepper before being fried in butter, a crisp fluffy smack of taste against the soft pork flesh. We didn't have time for any of the desserts available for a fiver at the bottom of the menu but did sample an excellent grassy fresh Portugeuse Vinho Verde from a short but functional wine list with prices hovering around the late 20's. It feels a lot like Angela Hartnett's, similarly excellent, Whitechapel Gallery Dining Rooms, itself a diffusion range from a chart topping talent capable of filling the intimate space many times over. If I lived close enough to either, I'd be there weekly.

Went for dinner – started with drinks in the bar downstairs and asked the staff at Corner Room to put us on a wait list for a table. The staff were extremely acocmmodating – came to get us from the bar when the table was ready, and could not have done more to ensure us a fabulous evening. Portion sizes were spot on in terms of having something across three courses, prices well positioned and atmosphere great. All in all, being locals, we would definitely come again and have no trouble recommending this venue to others. The only complaint – if there was one at all – is that the bar staff downstairs were a little slow with bringing our drinks across with each order, even though the bar was by no means full.

Unfortunately the four of us didn't enjoy our meal when we went there just over 2 weeks ago on Sunday. We had really high expectations after reading rave reviews about the place. We arrived at 12pm but was told that they only opened at 12.30pm although the menu stated otherwise (as well as their facebook page). They only had the brunch menu and as we were so hungry by then, 3 of us went for the lamb dish at £12 which sounded like the most filling dish. We waited for a further 45 minutes before it finally arrived. The waiter was apologetic and offered us complimentary croissants whilst we waited. Sadly we couldn't respond to his enthusiastic questioning about the food being worth waiting for, as our response was a deathly silence. The lamb dish was disappointing, tasteless and too fatty. The avocado on toast was just as bland. Will not got again.

Some of the food here last night was delicious (Squid, Rump of Lamb, Pork and Bread Pudding), but portion sizes were very erratic (tiny lamb belly) and the desserts were over elaborate and not altogether succesful (Vanilla parsnip and Peanut Butter Ice cream). We live locally and would go again – the prices are reasonable, the staff were accomodating – but the menu is so short that it will have to change regularly to allow repeat visits. The room is full of nice artefacts but has absolutely no atmosphere.