Crudo

By Eve Tudor

The newest fishmonger and seafood restaurant in town!!

Just as Lockdown 2 was over, I managed to grab a bubble buddy and go to the new Crudo restaurant in Shoreditch. I can’t tell you how pleased I was that we made it before life had to stop once again!

But what a beautiful night. The lighting was warm and so inviting. The décor was fresh and modern and everyone was so happy to see us with such kind eyes. It put us at ease so that whilst the world outside was worrying, we, along with everyone in the restaurant, were excited for a lovely evening. Let’s face it we haven’t had enough of those in the last year!

Obviously, we began with some cocktails! My favourite, the Squid Ink Mary, was perfect! Squid Ink infused Vodka with a homemade gazpacho and it was divine. (I may have had more than one.)

Then the food. We wanted everything, so we had a little mixture. But we began with the Carpaccio of Red Prawns and Truffles. The buttery prawns and the strong truffles played with joy on my taste buds. My eyes rolled back into my head with every exquisite mouthful. I’m not sure of the last time I was that happy eating prawns. Or maybe anything. I lost track of time and space putting that into my mouth I’ll be honest with you. Bliss is the only thing I can say. That and when are you open again? Obviously.

Then the Sea Bun, filled with Tempura Octopus. A fresh ciabatta bun filled with light octopus tempura and black cabbage with a spicy olive mayo. The bun was filled with big beautiful pieces of octopus in a light, crisp tempura batter. The olive mayonnaise was just the right level of olive to creamy mayo

and complimented the entire plate perfectly. I just took a great big mouthfilling bite and delighted in the flavour combinations. It was wonderful. This was a dish that was ordered twice seeing as sharing wasn’t an option as, to be perfectly honest, we were fighting over it!

We also had the Wild Brill and ’Nduja which was another amazing dish. I wondered how it would work as sometimes the ’nduja can be hot and overpowering, but this wasn’t. It complemented the brill’s soft fishy flavours whilst adding just the right amount of spice and a hint of heat. It harmonised perfectly with the tender, juicy fish.

All of the food that we had was just wonderful. From the Miso Cornish Monkfish Tapas to the Crushed Spiced Potatoes that were hot and a lovely side to go with all the different kinds of seafoods that we had that evening.

These plates really stuck out for me as memorable fare through the evening. We could have eaten everything off the menu as it was all incredible but, let’s face it, I’d have never have got out the door with the need for continuous second helpings!!

Crudo gave us an amazing night of beautiful food, inventive cocktails with a cosy atmosphere that we really loved! We can’t wait to go back for more second helpings and hopefully soon enough with more friends too!!