Lucie Loves… Food // Tried & Tasted… Brunch at Dirty Bones, Shoreditch
I blog about a lot of lifestyle-related things… but I feel that 2016 has been heavily weighted towards food and travel… And so, continuing with that culinary theme in mind, here’s my review of the brunch menu that I was invited to try, at the new Dirty Bones Shoreditch, in East London.
You may be familiar with Dirty Bones already – probably the one in Kensington. But did you know… there’s also one in Carnaby, Soho and now Shoreditch?
This, however, was the first time I’d ever eaten at a Dirty Bones, so I was pretty keen to see whether they lived up to their rather hip interior. My expectations were high!
From the moment that I stepped through the door, I absolutely loved it. I quickly realised that I’d actually walked past the place, before it had opened, as it was being done up. I remember seeing some typography on the wall of this old pub, and stepping inside to take a sneaky pic while the builders weren’t looking.
I took the lovely James, for a good old Sunday mate date. The atmosphere was cool, very chilled with reggae beats drifting from the stereo. On a Saturday, I believe they play hip hop, so the vibe is completely different, depending on whether you go in the day time or evening. But, in my opinion, reggae and breakfast is a winning combination.
We decided to start with a couple of coffees, whilst pouring over the menu. Finally ordering several dishes to share, so that we could taste and sample a few things. Lucie Loves’ Men’s Lifestyle Editor, James Barley, went for the Matcha Custard French Toast - thick cut brioche, infused with Matcha custard, coated in almond crunch and cooked until golden. It’s served with candied bacon and maple syrup. OH MY DAYS! Then, to go for something completely different, I opted for the Butcher’s Cut and Eggs: a house cut of onglet steak, served with two sunny side up eggs and porcini mushroom ketchup. YUM! The Matcha French toast costs £8 and the Butcher’s Cut costs £9. We also went for some mixed wild mushrooms, and a couple of cocktails.
For dessert, we went for the Peanut Butter Cookie Cup, £6.50 – it was absolutely scrumptious! If you’re a massive peanut butter fan like me, you’ll love it too! Think: salted peanut gelato, caramelised chocolate ganache, dark chocolate cookie chunks and honey nut brittle. So bloomin’ good! We also went for the Banana Toblerone-tella Waffles: caramelised banana, Toblerone-tella, blueberry jam, peanut butter gelato and crushed nuts on a freshly baked waffle, £7.50.
As far as hipster dining experiences go, Dirty Bones ticks all the right boxes. Suave staff, cool decor, high ceilings, neon signs and an array of original artwork on the walls. The food is good, if a little on the small side for some dishes… but still very tasty. And the cocktails are very well mixed too. All in all, it was absolutely flawless! I’ll definitely be going back. Since dining at the Shoreditch restaurant, I’ve now visited Dirty Bones Kensington (and loved that too!) and had cocktails at Carnaby Street.
Find out more… If you want to check out brunch at Dirty Bones, take a look at @dirtyboneslondon on Instagram and Twitter @dirtybonesldn.
Take a look at the Dirty Bones menu
Over to you… If you’ve got any other favourite brunch spots in London or anywhere in the UK, please do share them via a comment or tweet, and we can add them to our places to go and try.
Photography © Lucie Kerley