The Empress of India
our comments
The Victoria Park area is a smart and attractive part of East London and the area immediately by the park entrance has a village like feel to it with The Empress of India at its core. A cool, stylish space has been created in which customers relax and enjoy drinks at the bar area or a meal in the more formally arranged dining area.
For starters, Grilled Sardines on toast was a substantial creation of two sizable part-filleted sardines. These were soft and delicately flavoured, sat on top of a slice of toast spread with an olive and garlic tapenade, which came through nicely, and served with a scattering of salad leaves. This was a very pleasant way to kick off the meal. The Soft Boiled Duck Egg with English Asparagus Soldiers delivered exactly what it promised, the egg perfectly cooked its yolk providing a good ‘dipping sauce’ for the tender young asparagus. These are two new dishes that will feature on The Empress’s menu, both were very good.
On to mains, the Saddle of Venison was served medium rare, and was a tender piece of meat which had good flavour, accompanied well by the spiced celeriac puree and given a contrasting dimension by the cabernet sauvignon braised rhubarb that dressed it. The Onglet, again served medium rare, as expected, had more ‘body’ than finer cuts of beef, but it had a depth flavour that is sometimes missing from fillet steak. Served with a good jus, and a bowl of lightly seasoned chunky chips, it was a hearty dish.
It was difficult to choose dessert, they all sounded good! The Rhubarb and Apple Charlotte was tart, but not overly so, the thin case packed well with its fruit filling. The baked Egg Custard Tart was a rich confection; its filling more substantial than it looked, amply supported by a scoop of good nutmeg ice cream. Both dishes serious comfort food, and real winners.
The Empress has an extensive wine list, ranging upwards from £13 a bottle, with a good selection by the glass, as well as an interesting range of beverages on tap. We chose the Chenin Blanc at £4.00 a glass which was fresh and crisp , We also had the house red with our mains, a medium bodied wine at a little over £3.00 a standard glass it went well with our hearty meat dishes. With friendly efficient service, The Empress is a good local eatery.
akandpa - March 2007
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
Trust you? I couldn't disagree more!!! For starters, I've been to a few of the other pubs round the park and they are nothing compared to the Empress?! And secondly, I find it hard to fault the food there at all! I went for dinner there last night, I had the rabbit with tarragon and creamy leeks, and my friend had the steak which was cooked to perfection! I've been loads of times and the food is definitely one of the reasons why. Great staff and a lovely atmospher, I love the place!
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Regina
Overall rating 
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
I love the Empress as a local and it's so refreshing to have a bar& restaurant that knows what good food & service means. You should try their rotisserie and excellent wine list.
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Matt
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
I live very close to the Empress and have been for food a few times. It's very much hit and miss, sometimes the dishes are mediocre other times they are plain rubbish (although I must say the scotch eggs at the bar are very good). The biggest disappointment was a rabbit leg which was supposed to be confit, but was instead barely cooked, dry and tough! The sauce was very very runny and tasted of nothing but mustard, the rice was bland. For the prices that they charge they should really have someone checking what the chef puts on the plate! In fact they could maybe send the chef from the Gun (the other excellent pub owned by the same company) down to teach the chef here how to cook the very basics!
On the bright side service is always lovely (that's why I keep going back there) and the wine list is very nice too. The Bar is very inviting and has a different feel than the other pubs in the village (definitely a great stop over for a posh glass of wine). Generally you are always greeted with smiley staff.
All in all great for a glass of wine but for food I'd choose all the other pubs on the Park (trust me!).
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Overall rating 
Food 0 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Saturday, August 16, 2008
My Sunday lunch was perfect, started with pint of prawns, followed by a nice piece of steak and a great Eton mess to finish off. I am going for afternoon tea next...
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Yvonne
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, August 07, 2008
really lovely place, celebrated my 40th at The Empress with 10 friends and have never been so well looked after! A must vist!
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Peter
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
This is a great place, I thoroughly recommend The Empress of India. The menu is well thought out and the quality of the food is so good. I recently moved to the area and now live around the corner and never bothered to go here before, what a shame as I have been missing out for the past 6 months or so. Great place!
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Christian
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, July 07, 2008
What a great local, def try their excellent Bloody Marys and sunday roasts! Was there last Sunday and it was all brilliant, my dad had the pork roast and we all had the beef, service was very good too.
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Sam
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, July 07, 2008
I went to the Empress of India today with my family to celebrate my sisters birthday and have to say that we had an amazing time! The staff were very friendly and helpful and the food was great, I shared the whole roast chicken for two with my father and it came with all of the trimmings, It was so much food that we couldn't finish, the perfect place for a Sunday Roast. The room is beautiful too. We will definately recommend this restaurant to others.
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Samantha
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, April 28, 2008
Stunning Venue, great service and wonderful food! Have been here several times and have never found a fault with anything! What a brilliant restaurant.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, April 24, 2008
We had our wedding reception at the Empress of India and the entire experience was flawless. The planning was actually very fun thanks to Jessica, the competent and capable even planner for the group of pubs that the Empress is a member of. The service on the day was excellent and brilliantly managed by Alison, she knows how to make people feel welcome and at home while seamlessly keeping the even flowing. The food was great. Being the bride, I didn't eat much and the day was a bit of a blur for me, but the beef wellington was supurb. We have had so many comments from our guests on the food from the day -- so many people were surprised at how good it was given there were 64 people to cater for. Overall, it was a great experience and one that I would highly recommend. It's our local restaurant so we have eaten there several times in the past -- it's also great for meals out during the week/weekend. I highly recommend their full English Breakfast!
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k8johnson - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
