Harden's says
Live-fire restaurant from Andrew Clarke and Daniel Watkins, at 40FT Brewery in Dalston, where the chefs offer a new veggie-centric approach to BBQ, and where beer by-products are used to make ferments and hot sauces.
Harden's survey result
Summary
“Don’t be put off by what looks like a dodgy side street to get there”, say fans of Andrew Clarke and Daniel Watkins’s Dalston BBQ, who say that the “great food cooked with fire and flames” (and served “in the classic small plates style”) justifies eating “in a tent! in January!” (“you get blankets… it’s worth it and fun”). And there’s “amazing vegetarian options as well as the fish and meat”. But other diners in our annual poll are less sure. “Haphazard” or “too-cool-for-school” service is a recurrent theme. And overall ratings were dragged down by the minority who found the food itself to be “a real let down” (“considering everything is prepared over coals, it was not the charry interesting place we’d heard of, in fact somewhat bland”).
Summary
Vegetables are centre-stage at Andrew Clarke and Daniel Watkins’s vibey Dalston BBQ, which – with its mostly outdoor set-up in a former car park, live-fire cooking, impressively bearded chef, and extensive microbrewery beer selection (40FT Brewery’s Steve Ryan is a partner) – reads like a checklist of East London clichés. It opened in April 2022 too late to generate feedback in our annual diners’ poll, but all the newspaper press critics are impressed, with The Evening Standard’s Jimi Famurewa declaring: “It has the spirit, soul and craft of a serious restaurant, coupled with a vibrant, veg-heavy menu that feels like pyromaniacal Ottolenghi.”
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Acme Fire Cult?
The Bootyard, Abbot Street, London, E8 3DP
Acme Fire Cult Restaurant Diner Reviews
"Buzzing casual open area with enthusiastic cool staff (and patrons, apart from this old fart). Short menu strong on veg and fish, with meaty specials - BBQ at the heart of the kitchen. Excellent leeks, golden beetroot salad and plaice in particular. Relaxed fun venue, would be particularly good for small groups."
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £22.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £4.00 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 12.50% |
The Bootyard, Abbot Street, London, E8 3DP
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | 5:30 pm‑10 pm |
| Wednesday | 5:30 pm‑10 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑3 pm, 5:30 pm‑10 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑3 pm, 5:30 pm‑10 pm |
| Saturday | 1 pm‑4 pm, 6 pm‑10 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑4 pm |
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