Parts and Labour Restaurant

As a foodie I love the East End of London mainly for Brick Lane which does wonderful curries (Aladin and Sheba being two of my favourites). 

But as you know I am always open to trying out new restaurants, so when Parts and Labour a modern British restaurant asked if I would like to come and try their restaurant just a short walk away from buzzing Brick Lane, I thought I would give it a try. 

Exiting Aldgate East tube station the restaurant is a five minute walk, tucked away down a side street on the ground floor of the Qbic Hotel.

Entering the hotel you are instantly hit with a vibrant colourful space that is Scandinavian in design.

When first entering the venue, it appears to be a cross between a student union bar and Ikea, with an eclectic mix of suited and booted City workers and casual student types, that made us slightly dubious. However, after a friendly welcome, we began to relax.

The quirky design continues through to the restaurant, with some tables having bowler hats as the central lighting for the table.

The evening we visited, the restaurant was hosting live music, something that they do once a month. Whilst we perused over the menu the Bloom Twins who were singing that night were busy getting ready for their set. 

Once started they were superb, with an electro pop style mixed with a blues element. They drew quite the crowd for a Wednesday evening and are well worth a listen if you get a chance.

For starters we opt for grilled flatbread, broad bean and asparagus hummus, pickled with spring onions (£6). 

It's a generous portion and I love that the hummus is flavoured with seasonal vegetables and the addition of the asparagus was yummy. 

The other starters for the table were squid, chorizo, chickpea and coriander (£7.50).

The flavours from the chorizo and the texture of the squid were the perfect combination and this dish was incredibly flavoursome. 

The third and final starter for the table was pulled lamb shoulder croquettes accompanied with mint mayonnaise (£6).

The croquettes were wonderfully filling but for me they were too rich and there were too many for a starter. 

The restaurant offers a good selection of mains from fish, meat and pasta dishes. 

My dining companion for mains continued the fish theme with seared sea trout, barbecued cucumber, wasabi crème fraiche (£14.50). This I was informed was again of excellent quality.

Now I normally steer clear of fishcakes within restaurants, mainly because they can be hit and miss. But I thought based on the quality of the starters that I would take a punt on the salmon fishcake, buttered spinach and lemon chive butter sauce (£11.50). 

The fishcake was perfectly cooked with a good mix of salmon and potato, the chive butter and chilly spinach was a excellent combination. 

The third main was lemon and thyme spatchcock chicken (£11).

The chicken was perfectly cooked and had a perfect balance of lemon. The naughty serving of chips on the side was especially welcome. 

Based on the mains, as a table we were looking forward to Parts and Labours offerings for dessert. 

My personal choice was ease, lemon and elderflower posset, with basil shortbread (£6).

I love lemon desserts to finish off a meal, the tartness of the lemon and the addition of the basil shortbread was a great choice. 

Other choices on the table gooseberry millefeuille and Pistachios (£6).

I am reliably informed that this was delicious and I love the fact that the dish uses gooseberries such an underrated fruit.

The last dessert for the table was milk chocolate, salted caramel tart with vanilla mascarpone (£6.50).

Now general hotel food normally disappoints me as a foodie; but I have to say the quality of the food in Parts and Labour surprised me. The menu is inventive, the food served is delicious and we thoroughly enjoyed the live music.

The hotel and restaurant is perfectly located for visiting Petticoat Lane market and Whitechapel Gallery.

www.partsandlabour.london

Qbic London City Hotel
42 Adler Street,
London 
E1 1EE

Thank you very much to Parts and Labour for a wonderful meal. Our meal was complimentary for the purposes of a review, but this is an honest and fair reflection of the restaurant and our meal.