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London Unattached - Mid-Life London Living

Luxury London Lifestyle for mid-life Metropolitans - food, travel, restaurant reviews - London Unattached

You are here: Home / Restaurant / Out of London / The Reach Bar and Kitchen, Gallion’s Reach

The Reach Bar and Kitchen, Gallion’s Reach

February 19, 2014 by Fiona Maclean 19 Comments

Last Updated on June 26, 2016

Reaching into East London:

My lack of any sense of direction is legendary.  It was perhaps foolish to rely on being able to use the GPS homing device on my phone to home in to the Reach, and even more unwise to rely on google maps (though I did clutch a rain soaked printed sheet of A4 which should have helped).  Particularly as the website for the Reach Bar seemed to show the area with an altogether different topography.  My tip of the day – the Reach Bar website is really rather more accurate in this case than google maps.

The Reach - Oysters

Of course it was cold.  Of course it was wet and windy.  And dark.  That sort of night when you REALLY don’t want to walk three times widdershins around East London’s largest and bleakest roundabout, approaching any passer-by with what must have seemed an inexplicable despair.  Perhaps twitter isn’t the ideal way to communicate with  would-be dining companions either, though they both tweeted back intermittent messages of support and encouragement.  Hindsight is a cruel mistress at times.

In the end two helpful students, perhaps noting the despair on my face and fearing I might throw myself into the Thames, walked me through a very unlikely scrubby path to ‘the only pub they knew in the area’.  Thankfully I’d arrived at the Reach to be greeted with a warm welcome and a chilled glass of fizz.  The world was alright at last.

Was it worth the trek?  Well, we were unlucky to have picked a particularly inclement night.  And, the ‘astonishing views over the Thames’ were shrouded by the storms.  I suspect for that reason The Reach Bar is a better destination venue when the weather is better.  But the staff were friendly and helpful (I arrived to be greeted by the owner at the door just back from venturing out to try and find me).  And the food and drink was well beyond the average London ‘gastro-pub’.

So, we ate well, though perhaps not as amazingly well.  My soup was pleasant, well flavoured and rich with a good ‘home-made’ texture,  but I was just a little bemused by the balsamic glaze decoration around the bowl.

The Reach - Soup

Fresh Atlantic prawns were peeled but left with heads and tails on for easy eating.  Served with Aioli and Salad it made for one happy woman across the table from me.

The Reach - Prawns

And the Oysters Gratinee (grilled with a cheesy topping) were reported to be excellent by Tasha from FoodIFancy.  They did look like the star number.

I was looking for comfort food and a burger seemed the most promising of the main courses to deliver.  With chips of course.  Again, very prettily decorated with a balsamic glaze.  The burger itself though was a satisfyingly unpretentious patty of good quality beef served up with a salad garnish, home made bun and a generous topping of melted cheese.  The Reach promises to use local ingredients where-ever possible – and has a freezer-free commitment, so you are guaranteed fresh food every day.

Burger - the Reach

My friend’s lamb (chops rather than cutlets) were subjected to the balsamic pen again, here perhaps for the first time the most convincing and legitimate use.  The lamb was tender and melting, in a rich balsamic gravy.

The Reach - fish and chips

Even the fish and chips appeared on a plate decorated with a balsamic glaze.  Perhaps the chef was trying to send us some kind of subliminal message?  For whatever reason,  the food was unaffected.  The batter was nicely crisp and golden, well cooked and well presented and the fish inside perfectly white and flaky.  I rather liked the presentation of the salads too, generous portions in small oblique bowl which allowed the content to be nicely dressed.

the Reach Crumble

Although I wasn’t particularly hungry dessert beckoned! – for me more comfort food in the form of apple crumble, which was delicious and appeared with ‘proper’ custard.

The Reach - Chocolate Brownie

The rich, sticky chocolate brownie came similarly garnished and accompanied.

All very delish.

The Reach Bar provided an excellent evening of beyond normal pub food.  I’d love to have this place on my doorstep.  While for me, the food isn’t sublime enough to make me want to take the journey of over an hour on a regular basis, I can see that it would be a great destination pub for a Sunday lunch or a summer evening meal with a group of friends.  Oh and TRUST the website directions rather than google maps!

 

We dined as guests of The Reach Bar

The Reach Bar
Gallions Hotel
Albert Basin Way
E16 2QZ

T: 020 7476 8689
info@thereachbar.co.uk

 

Filed Under: Out of London, Restaurant Tagged With: East London, gastro pub

About Fiona Maclean

London based freelance writer and marketing consultant. I edit London-Unattached.com and write for a number of other publications. With a music degree and a background in marketing across many sectors, my passions include all types of music, food, restaurants, wine and travel

Comments

  1. Teresa Sheldon says

    April 13, 2014 at 10:39 pm

    Thanks for a good review this looks really great and interesting and we hope to visit it soon

    Reply
  2. Jeanne Horak-Druiff says

    March 4, 2014 at 7:21 pm

    LOL – you were literally on my doorstep 🙂 I live just down the dock so this is one of my locals. Missed the launch but will definitely have to check it out!

    Reply
    • Fiona Maclean says

      March 4, 2014 at 9:16 pm

      let me know if you need the pr contact jeanne and I hope you are healing up well!

      Reply
  3. Stevie Wilson says

    February 25, 2014 at 1:55 pm

    I hate it when google isn’t correct or the instructions I have been given require another “head” to even GET there
    annoying and frustration abound — but sounds like the food was awesome!

    Reply
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