Gull's Egg & Seaweed Salt, Lyle's, London

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Lyle’s, Shoreditch, lunch

ByQin Xie 14/05/201419/05/2020

Menu from an (à la carte) lunch at Lyle’s in Shoreditch, East London, with food by James Lowe:

Gull’s Egg & Seaweed Salt

Nettle Soup, Pheasant Egg & Cured Pig’s Cheek

Raw Highland Beef & Cured Sea Urchin

Blood Cake & Chicory

Dover Sole, Jersey Royals & Sea Beet

Treacle Tart & Milk Ice Cream

Nettle Soup, Pheasant Egg & Cured Pig's Cheek, Lyle's, London

Raw Highland Beef & Cured Sea Urchin, Lyle's, London

Dover Sole, Jersey Royals & Sea Beet, Lyle's, London

Treacle Tart & Milk Ice Cream, Lyle's, London

Having had James Lowe’s food at the Young Turks, I was at least intrigued by his offering at Lyle’s. Not least because it took him so long to get the restaurant going.

The food had so much of the nose-to-tail ideals picked up at St John, where Lowe used to work, particularly because it included plenty of offal. But there’s a sort of finesse that’s found in Nordic cuisine.

There’s a lot of experimentation going on, which is pretty exciting.

Lyle’s has quite a lot going for it. So it’s no surprise that it gained a Michelin-star so quickly. But while it’s a bit of a darling for so many reasons, it just doesn’t quite tickle my fancy.

Qin Xie

Qin Xie is a London based food, wine and travel journalist and trained chef.

When not infiltrating Michelin restaurants as a kitchen tourist, she writes about food, drink and travel. Her work has appeared on Yahoo, FT, The Times and CNN.

Her first cookbook, co-authored with YS Peng at Hunan Restaurant, is out March 2014.

According to friends, her watch is always set to UTC -- ready for the next big adventure. In reality, she is happiest at the dinner table or by the sea.