And while Sam Smith's nabbed all of the show-stopping
gin palaces long ago, with the right treatment these dining rooms can be
incredibly handsome, resplendent with period features and atmosphere.
Disco Bistro in the deepest alleys of the City is one such
venture. The ground floor is The Rising Sun pub, still hawking £5 Peronis to yakky, gakky suited boozers but I imagine the dining room was previously sentenced to a servitude of team fish
& chips Fridays and not much of note in between.
Bore that I am, I had to try the famous Disco Burger which
is conventional enough, with the exception of a mound of beef short rib.
However rest assured that the menu at Disco Bistro ranges far beyond wings and
burgers, and includes quite grown-up, sophisticated plates, solid fish options
and noteworthy creative execution. Doesn’t sound like me though, so wings and burger it was…
My visit was with a group of fellow bloggers, food nuts and SLR
shooters, and feedback was unanimously positive across the various dishes
ordered. I hasten to add at this stage that we all paid full price for
everything.
This merry band enabled me to try a sticky wing as well as
my own portion of spicy (both £7). The sticky wings were strongly flavoured
with vinegar, yes there was sweetness beneath but the sharp, pickled taste was dominant.
This isn’t a criticism for me personally, sour as I am, but it may not be for
everyone. I’d say they’d work better as a bar snack.
I did prefer the spicy wings, which weren’t overly hot but had a decent warmth. Flavour was closer to an almost-Asian chilli route than a cayenne pepper/Buffalo recipe, and especially without obligatory blue cheese and crudité support, these more than stood up on their own.
I did prefer the spicy wings, which weren’t overly hot but had a decent warmth. Flavour was closer to an almost-Asian chilli route than a cayenne pepper/Buffalo recipe, and especially without obligatory blue cheese and crudité support, these more than stood up on their own.
With popularity comes debate, and wing portion size has become
a contentious issue on Twitter of late. Not quite Syria or equal marriage, but
a crucial topic all the same. At just under £1 per wing, this is up there with MEATliquor
for both value and quality..
The burger was excellent too. Value-wise, less so. At £14,
this will no doubt send many people running for either the hills or The
Hawksmoor (about a 10 min walk, near a Goodman too) but bear with me. The short
rib adds a depth of flavour and juice which I don’t think pulled pork experiments
have accomplished as well. The patty itself was perfectly cooked to medium rare
without any mention prior (plus point) and the practically liquefied cheese
oozed everywhere.
One gripe was the barbecue sauce – not only did it make a
mess and derail the architectural integrity of the burger (yes I did just write
that) but even worse, it simply wasn’t necessary. The quality of the contents
sang through more than confidently without it. Fries were fine, but not remarkable.
On to dessert, and another universal trend of late, the doughnuts.
I was a little slow to understand this, much as the whole Krispy Kreme craze
baffled me too. They weren’t a step change from supermarket ones at all. And I’m
a bit new to the savoury and even meat flavoured versions which Electric Diner among others are now slinging. The oxtail one at Two Nights Only I
didn’t enjoy particularly.
Luckily Disco Bistro's hark back to basics in theory, but with contemporary execution. These are gingerbread doughnut balls with a pot of lemon curd for
dunking. Fantastic – with the lemon providing freshness and a sharpness to diminish
the risk of overt doughiness, and the gingerbread providing a homely warmth to compliment
the horrible winter outside.
Service was friendly and accomplished; our group of 14-odd ‘foodies’
wouldn’t seem the easiest punters on paper, but it all seemed a breeze. One
mini gripe was the beer situation. Better bottles please, or deliver pints to
upstairs. The service charge should cover that. And another slight
disappointment was the vibe itself; perfectly buzzy sure, but not disco enough!
I wanted more fun and better music, they could definitely go further with the
disco house and the volume. Not thinking Car Wash and wigs here…
I’m not quite sure what the long term plans for Disco Bistro
are, as the pub dining room takeover seems to be a springboard rather than a
permanent home, so I would implore people to go as soon as they can.
Food – 9/10
Drink – 6/10
Service - 8/10
Value – 7/10
Tap water tales – 7/10 (jugs provided, not topped up)
Staff Hotness – 8/10 (friendly, pretty waitresses, clued up on the menu)
Sticky Wings! Yum! thanks for sharing!
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