St John Bread and Wine - Commercial St, E1

I’m actually struggling to write this review without sounding like a school girl with a crush...  Every part of our meal at St John Bread and Wine was spot on, from start to finish.  We visited on a cold and rainy Friday evening; we’d been bickering between ourselves on the way.

I was being irrational and worried we were going to be late and didn’t want to miss the booking.  We got there with plenty of time to spare though and after being sat and getting some wine I settled down.  The Lady is an absolute saint to put up with me sometimes...

The menu at St John Bread and Wine is actually pretty confusing to the uninitiated. Split up into sections named 6pm and 7pm for some inexplicable reason.

Effectively though it’s a tapas style menu choosing what you fancy and the food comes as its ready. Not really knowing what to expect I think we under ordered to be on the safe side but what we got was amazing.

The Lady started off with 6 Oysters, they were for her and her alone. I can’t stand them or understand why people eat them, they looked cold and dead but for some reasons the Lady loved them. I monopolised the Middlewhite Faggot with Turnip Puree, I could have eaten a dozen of these.

The Faggot was beautiful, perfectly cooked and with the slightest hint of Livery Iron it was exquisite. The Puree was an absolute eye opener though, so smooth and so rich it went perfectly alongside the meaty Faggot goodness.

We also ordered the Pigs Head and the Cobb Chicken with Girolles. I think the lady was put off by the Pigs Head; little chunks of meat interspersed with gems of fat and chopped vegetables.

It was perfectly seasoned and packed full of flavour, for me delicious but the fat could be off putting for some. Imagine a loose Brawn, the sweet salty sauce begging to be mopped up with bread.

The Cobb Chicken with Girolles really was spot on as well. The leg and thigh almost confited and the breast perfectly cooked served with a jus made from the roasting juices and the mushrooms, we absolutely wolfed it down.

The meat vanished pretty quickly, it was hard to fault but at £23 for half a chicken it was on the expensive side but I imagine this was more down the amount of mushrooms used in the dish.

St John Bread and Wine has nailed it on the head for me, simple food served really well. Relaxed service, friendly and really approachable staff there is very little to fault and comes extremely highly recommended. I will definitely be back for more as I really don’t think it gets much better than this. Gush over...