Circus Eats: Great Food At Bargain Prices In Stratford

Stratford like other previously unloved bits of London, is being regenerated. It’s all to do with the Olympics in 2012, I suppose, and it’s going rather well. Smart blocks of flats are already filling up with City slickers who can commute to Liverpool Street in 15 minutes on a good day, and the bones of another Westfield shopping centre are already in place. (Though why it’s not going to be called Eastfield is unclear.)

A short walk from the station is the ‘cultural quarter’; home to the Picture House, the Theatre Royal and Stratford Circus - a youth-focused performing arts centre, which is where we were headed on a chilly Tuesday evening. On the ground floor, effectively in the foyer, is the centre’s café bar - Circus Eats - which promises good wholesome food at affordable prices. “Call me cynical,” said my companion, “but in London, cheap food is usually bad food.” Well, luckily for us and the locals, that certainly isn’t the case here.

The weekly changing menu is concise and clearly aimed at East London’s multicultural masses, with international dishes like Polish stew and West African jollof rice and jerk chicken thighs on offer. There are ‘light bites’ available until 6pm, as well as their popular interpretation of school lunch - a bargain at £4.50 for two courses.

We began with pea soup and prawns with a fresh and flavoursome salsa. The prawns, sourced from nearby Billingsgate Market, were deliciously plump, juicy and a big hit with my friend, who left only a neat stack of shells. My soup, vividly green in colour and drizzled with truffle oil, was well seasoned and tasted genuinely nourishing. Served with a chunk of rustic bread, it was an honest warming winter dish - though I’d have liked it passed through a sieve to get rid of those pesky pea skins.

 

“Someone in the kitchen knows what they’re doing,” my friend remarked, and she‘s right. That someone is Kevin Richardson, formerly of Rosemary Lane near Tower Hill, and it was he who - due to a staff shortage evening - was both cooking for and serving us. Clearly passionate about his ingredients and the final product, his enthusiasm alone makes Circus Eats a real find.

 

From the wine list, we chose an Argentinean chenin blanc and a glass of La Serre rosé de Syrah, which was soft and fruity and probably the fuller flavoured of the two. My friend’s ultra-fresh salmon with fennel and new potatoes benefited from an excellent herb crust that was all herb, rather than half herb half soggy breadcrumbs. I was tempted by some of the African influenced dishes on the menu but eventually decided on my favourite - butternut squash risotto. It’s the sort of dish that can either be a joy to behold or a disaster to endure, and thankfully here it was the former. A creamy, sage-infused delight with cubes of sweet roasted squash and tasty parmesan crisps. Our only complaint is that the portions are a little over generous but with the current trend for small food on a big plate, that’s hardly a bad thing.

 

To finish, we shared a strawberry panacotta with warm chocolate sauce which was nice enough but nothing special - though perhaps that’s our fault for not saving room for the chocolate fondant instead.

 

We left suitably stuffed and very satisfied, pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome and hearty portions of homemade food. The real winner here, though, is the prices - with all starters under £4 and mains under £7, you could eat like a king for under £15 a head. For a laid-back lunch or pre-theatre meal, you’d do well to ignore the dreary pizza place opposite and head inside.