Cub restaurant - London

Game changers on the tasting menu food scene, Cub offer one that is actually affordable with their £65 menu including six dishes and six cocktails. Pioneers of the #zerowaste movement their menus celebrate ingredients in their entirety, wasting as little as possible. Set up by Doug Mcmaster of Brighton’s zero waste restaurant Silo and cocktail wizard Mr Lyan, food and drink have been in harmony since day one. Michael Thompson (of Fodder) has now taken the helm as head chef and is taking the menu to new heights. Vegans and gluten avoiders can rejoice too. Not only is the menu ‘veg-centric’ (the night I dined it was entirely vegetarian) but Cub will happily cater to any dietary needs. Just mention it when you book. And a word of advice – book.

Food

Six courses, each innovative as the next. Cub take pride in a ‘waste not, want not’ attitude. Their ‘zero waste’ spin on plates quite literally blew my mind. Favorites were a gloriously meaty mushroom topped with nutty sprouted seeds and grains alongside a ‘beer-blanc’ made with Toast Ale (brewed from otherwise wasted bread) and a celeriac served three ways – baked to soft buttery perfection, skins blitzed with hazelnut to a deep creamy puree and roots crisped up to moorishly crunchy twiglet like squiggles.

Drinks

With the Godfather of cocktail cool at its helm the drinks were sure to impress. I confess that the initial idea of a cocktail pairing didn’t bode well in my mind. I pictured heavy, sweet drinks, too much booze and the inevitable dive for a family bag of crisps on the way home to soak it up. Nevertheless I went for it. ‘For the experience’ I said.

What I experienced was delightful.  The drinks at Cub are just as much headliners as the plates themselves. It’s zig zag style printed menu implies this too; plate, drink, plate, drink and so on with each cocktail infusing a key element to your dining experience.

Favourites were a water jelly and champagne concoction and a gloriously sweet but tangy rhubarb fermentation.

Atmosphere

The setting is intimate at Cub. Despite the tasting menu set up there are no starched white tablecloths here. It reminds me of restaurants in Copenhagen with an open kitchen (ask for seats at the bar to have a real oggle at what head chef creates) and easy dressed waiters who explain each dish to you