British

158 Sandringham Road, London, E8 2HS

London, England

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Overall Rating (out of 10): 6.25

Stand Out Dish: Cavatelli, Lamb Sauce & Fennel Seeds / BBQ Pork Loin with Strawberry Grape Glaze

Meal Time: 2.00hrs

Ave Cost Per Head (excl. drinks): £49

Summary: strong cooking talent that somehow missed the mark on overall enjoyment

Would I Go Back? No

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The first thing to say is that the overall rating is the average of two very different scores. One at 5.50 was driven by a view that most courses where underwhelming and fundamentally not fun to eat. The other at 7.0 thought a combination of the price point and intelligent adventurous cooking which really shone through in some dishes meant it deserved a higher score. Luckily this restaurant was a part of a series of birthday treats and the person who rated it a 7.0 was the birthday boy..

Casa FoFo is an intimate and unpretentious restaurant deep in the heart of Hackney. Located at the end of a row of local shops the front door opens up onto c. 6 tables and an open galley kitchen. Along the right hand side of the kitchen is a corridor leading to a small garden, toilet and downstairs dining area.

We had plumb front row seats right in front of the kitchen and it was marvel to watch five chefs and one pot washer work efficiently in an area one quarter the size of a London Underground carriage without crashing into each other or worse.

Casa FoFo offers a set tasting menu with no choices and we decided to opt for the wine pairing as well. We enjoyed the wine choices which were characteristically Hackney/hipster ranging from biodynamic to unfermented & uninterrupted and from orange wine to an interesting wine that was a blend of both red and white wine. It would have been very hard to drink a bottle of any of the offerings but a glass was very doable.

Sweet and crunchy this was a fine if unchallenging amuse-bouche.

The bread and particularly the crust was excellent, full of flavour and texture. The butter with roasted yeast could best be described as a high end margarine … smooth and light but low on taste.

It turns out that at least one of us has been put off pollock for the foreseeable future after the “If Jackson Cooked Pollock” course at Peace & Loaf (see earlier review here). Unfortunately the offering at Casa FoFo, whilst being technically well cooked, lacked the flavour or intrigue to change her mind.

Pairing this course with an orange wine was an inspired choice. The carrot was poached in carrot juice and when combined with the method of cooking lead to an intriguing contrast between tart and sweet which was augmented by the wine.

This was a really fantastic dish. The liquid lamb fat in the sauce played well with the sharpness of the sea fennel. Whilst we could have eaten double the portion the kitchen was probably wise in their sizing of the dish given its richness.

This dish dividend opinions again but we both agreed it showed strong technical cooking and flavour combinations. The sweetness of the pork augmented by the strawberry glaze played well against the accompanying bitter leaves. For me it was a joint contender for best dish alongside the Cavatelli.

As a palate cleanser this was very effective but neither of us particularly enjoyed it.

As a rule we both find desserts underpinned with savoury flavours to be underwhelming and/or a poor cousin to the classical dessert ingredients. As savoury desserts go this again showed imaginative combination of flavours and textures but somehow fell flat on both of our enjoyment meters.

We didn’t get a description of the petit fours but the white chocolate ball with an unknown puff outer coating was delicious.

Verdict
The cooking talent at Casa FoFo is clearly high. On the right night or with the right dining palate this could be a top flight memorable meal. For us whilst sparks of brilliance shone through in certain dishes overall there were too many misses. I would be keen to return on another night to see whether it could achieve consistent high highs the kitchen is clearly capable of.