The Brickhouse

Went last time this Friday for some top notch Jazz music. Venue is truly great, so is the food and drinks. Perhaps a little complaint on the service. Although friendly and accomodative staff, it took quite some time to get our drinks. Overall I recommend everyone to try this place out and enjoy the entertainment.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Monday, July 21, 2008

Visited mid-afternoon Sunday- 3 course for £24 incl coffee. Wifes birthday- really enjoyed the place and the food. In terms of the actual food definetly amongst the best weve ever had.

Started off a bit worringly with a confusing pile of menu booklets and a very pleasant waitress who clearly had only recently started working there.

Starter, mains, dessert all excellent incl brocollli soup/tuna/salmon/lamp/apple tart- all good quality ingredients, some good ideas and perfectly cooked. Great mojitos and peach bellinis also.

Not sure how it would be on a busy evening but can tell you the food was genuinely great(and apparently the main chef wasnt working that day!)
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spud999 - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Sunday, May 25, 2008

When I went to The Brickhouse recently for my birthday with 5 close friends I had heard a lot about it but not been there myself. I loved it! I wanted a place with great food, professional but friendly service and good atmosphere, where we could stay the whole evening. My expectations were not just met but exceeded. Dinner was delicious and exciting, I have to mention the Cappuccino Creme Brulee that came served in a coffee cup with a sprinkling of chocolate! The presentation and the quality of the food really stood out. During the evening there were two sets of aerial performances which were breath-taking and work so well in this space. Later on we moved to the upstairs balcony bar and finished the night with a few cocktails...i'll be back!
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Sally
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, April 16, 2008

I was quite recently at Brickhouse and I must say that it was far beyond my expectations. Food - astonishing. Service - warm, friendly, cool. Special event - long just enough to have possibility to talk about it afterwards. I love the minimal interiors which counterpointed with baroque Brick Lane crowd and framed in break-beat dj vibe give the intriguing (may I say?) neo-surrealsit effect.

Definitely worth visiting.
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Natasha
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, April 03, 2008

understand the mixed reviews on this new east end restaurant after a visit there recently, great intentions from the kitchen shame about the more than casual staff that brings it all down a few notches.

even though they were all lovely and friendly you do expect them to know about the menu or at least have some general knowledge about food. even the most simple questions were met by a 'oh have to ask the chef'. on opening a £50 bottle of wine 'oh do you want to taste it??'

the only real lows on the food front, apart from the £40 set menu price plus £3 extra for sides, was the fridge cold tuna starter and the strange surprise addition of instant egg noodles that came with the john dory main course.

however, we didn't go for the food alone so hopes were up when the entertainment finally came on. before that, the band next door was actually sounding rather good compared with the outdated music coming from the sleepy in house DJ whose playlist ranged from the beach boys and old madonna hits.

all in all, the food, staff and entertainment don't justify the hefty price.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Saturday, March 22, 2008

This place is just what Brick Lane has been crying out for and is definitely one of the reasons why the East End is now the place to be in London.

Great venue, split over 3 floors, with glass windows at the back and yes smokers there is an outside garden which proved very entertaining as the night progressed.

Great atmosphere, cool tunes and friendly staff who know what they're doing behind the bar (and not too up themselves to try one of my cocktail inventions!).

Loving the beds on the top floor which afford you great views of the nights entertainment; Burlesque Caberet when I was there. It really worked and proved an additional treat to the evening.

Food was fabulous! Melt in the mouth seared Tuna for starter, braised belly port cooked to perfection for main & ending with an Apple Tarte - just loved the shot glass of caramel milkshake, great touch! Portions were just enough to satisify. There is nothing worse then feeling stuffed & bloated after supper during a night out - usually a difficult combo to get right, but they get it right here.

A real different eating experience, a whole nights entertainment and and a must visit! I loved the place.
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- View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Luckily I read the other reviews after I had been to The Brickhouse or I may have been put off from one of the best nights out I have had for a long time. The Brickhouse is an amazing venue with very high roof which provides the ideal setup to watch a incredibly fit lady hanging from ribbons and ropes whilst eating food that was sublime. We learned that we were amongst the first to try out the Spring menu and the quality and quantity was excellent. I had honey roasted quail to start and Lamb cutlets with polenta for my main whilst my gf chose the rare tuna with wasabi foam to start and the beef with mustard ice cream for her main. The food was well presented and the quality was excellent.

The service is more relaxed than in other restaurants offering similar quality food, but this fitted in with the relaxed atmosphere of the venue. After deserts (chocolate fondue for 2!), we went up to the top mezzanine and relaxed with a few drinks on one of the 4 double beds up there. The DJ that night really kept the atmosphere flowing (he has played at top venues around the world we learned).

I can whole-heartedly recommend this restaurant for a great night out. We had our table all night - no turning over of tables here. The manager told us that the aim of the venue is to be a complete night out ratehr than a place to eat and then move on. It works!!!
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, March 04, 2008

The Brickhouse is a great concept; the fusion of food, music and live visual entertainment but in this case the execution did not do it justice.

The meal started well; all of us in my group were pleased with our starters. I had the rare tuna with wasabi foam which was equisite. It was very light and yet still had that kick that I enjoy when it hits me. Things were pretty much downhill from there. When the main course arrived the unanimous reaction from my group was "where is the rest of it?!" It was literally the same size as the starter. The starter whet my appetite but the main just seemed to do the same! Dessert was also forgetable, not even worth mentioning.

Service was sloppy. I felt that the waitresses were too busy trying to be cool rather than focussing on whether the customer was happy. When one of my group mentioned that the main course was too small she had the audacity to say "its about quality not quantity!". First of all she is not paying for this, and secondly we don't expect to have to think about going to the bagel shop across the road afterwards when we go for a 3 course dinner at a restaurant!

I was also not impressed by the fact that from where we were sitting we missed 90% of the "performance" due to the restricted view. It didn't once occurr to any of the staff to suggest before the performance that we move to somewhere where we can actually see it.

Despite the wonderful venue, the attention to detail in the decor had a lot to be desired. For some reason they decided to use those disposable paper table cloths that you get when you go to one of those cheap restaurants in China Town. Candles are always a nice touch but here they just stuck a tea-light in a shot glass. If the minimalist look is what they were seeking, they should use high quality fittings is a sparing manner.

Lastly, the DJ was lame. He might as well have just put on a panpipes CD.

I was thoroughly disappointed with my experience at the Brickhouse. Our bill came to £60 per head and we left unenteratained, hungry and looking forward to spending the rest of the night somewhere else.
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Nestior - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Sunday, February 24, 2008

It's a Saturday night in December, I arrived at The Brickhouse with high hopes: In this melting pot we have a recent refurbishment of a brewery building full of character, a bar on the top floor with king sized beds as sofas, an adventurous menu, a chef raised in the michelin starred Foliage and quirky entertainment which included cabaret, trapeze artists and snake charmers. Who could resist? We could have.

Now before your hopes fade, this restaurant did ignite some sparks, admittedly the white tomate soup was exciting - the tangy flavour was commanding, which is a great contrast to the purely white appearance. Of the mains, it was the mustard ice-cream which was the highlight, although by the end of the main course, it had melded nicely with the rest of the not-so-attractions on the dish to produce a somewhat neutral coloured puddle, other mains were rather forgettable. As we had visited for a birthday celebration, the pastry chefs kindly baked a cake especially for our party, though it looked pleasant - with a neat arrangement of fresh fruit on the top, the sponge was too dry and stiff to complement the cream, and would've been more enjoyable on it's own as a sponge cake in it's own right.

I almost forgot to mention, at some point during our meal (which took several hours as the kitchen was understaffed), there was an unimpressively short 5 minute performance. For a place which claims to revolutionalise dining by being a fusion of excitement both visibly and gastronomically, it seemed to lack in both, severely on the entertainment side! A very flexible man performing and contorting into poses while suspended into the air by muscle power and a silk cloth was impressive, but only for 5 minutes - takes away from the whole experience one would expect. Either the owners need to beef up on the entertainment side, or play down the focus on entertainment in their PR. When our bill came in the end, it came to just under £50 each with 2 bottles of wine between 2 tables of 6, this hurt, considering that no-one was full, or entertained!

Perhaps this is why this is the first of it's kind, and maybe the last.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Thursday, January 10, 2008

Ate recently at the Brickhouse. The food was definitely a highlight and the chef should be commended. The mix of textures and flavours in a couple of the dishes did not quite work but overall it was an interesting and very satisfying menu. A few logistical issues need to be sorted such as the extractors in the kitchen (sitting above the kitchen our clothes smelt of food when we left thanks to the intermittent plumes of steam and smoke coming out into the dining room). Entertainment was spot-on. Great mix of customers and friendly, if slightly amateur, wait-staff (if you knock over someone's glass of wine it is probably best to offer them a replacement!). Overall a great night out. A couple of minor things to sort out but otherwise nothing to detract from the overall experience.
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Matt
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Friday, November 16, 2007