This post is part of our restaurant deal series: 7 days, 7 restaurants, 7 deals. 7 bargains? where we seek out value deals on the London restaurant scene.
The offer
Set lunch menu: £18 for two courses, £21 for three.
Booked with
Direct with restaurant.
Why I chose it
Pollen Street Social has been widely commended for its set lunch, so I figured Social Eating House might be similarly good. Additionally, the choices offered looked good and the price is excellent.
Downsides or drawbacks
None apparent.
What I ate
- Salt cod fishcake, lemon butter, chive cream
- Slow cooked pork belly, caramelized Choucroute, charcuterie sauce
- Peanut ice cream, salted peanut, chocolate
Food quality
The food was simply stunning.
This is really great food regardless of price and had it cost twice the price here, it still would have been value. Some restaurants that we have eaten at over the years could only ever aspire to this level of cooking, while to get it for £21 almost defies belief. The fishcake was without fault, the pork so tender it fell apart, never dry and the charcuterie sauce, more like a bonus rather than needed given how well the pork was cooked. But what a bonus, it layered up the umami tastes and took the dish that extra step towards fantastical. The dessert meanwhile could easily have come straight from the dessert bar at Pollen Street Social, calling it simply 'ice cream' doesn't do it justice for this was a highly skilled dessert concoction of textures and tastes that I never wanted to end.
Food quantity
This was a complete and full meal.
Service
Service was impeccable throughout. By way of note, unlike some meals in this ‘series’, I dined with other people who ordered from the a la carte (and wished they hadn’t when they saw my meal).
Meal deal verdict
The set menu at Social Eating House was on my visit without fault. This was a quality meal at any price. At £21, considering the quality, it's as good a value meal as we have had since starting the blog.
Score
10/10
The offer
Set lunch menu: £18 for two courses, £21 for three.
Booked with
Direct with restaurant.
Why I chose it
Pollen Street Social has been widely commended for its set lunch, so I figured Social Eating House might be similarly good. Additionally, the choices offered looked good and the price is excellent.
Downsides or drawbacks
None apparent.
What I ate
- Salt cod fishcake, lemon butter, chive cream
- Slow cooked pork belly, caramelized Choucroute, charcuterie sauce
- Peanut ice cream, salted peanut, chocolate
Food quality
The food was simply stunning.
This is really great food regardless of price and had it cost twice the price here, it still would have been value. Some restaurants that we have eaten at over the years could only ever aspire to this level of cooking, while to get it for £21 almost defies belief. The fishcake was without fault, the pork so tender it fell apart, never dry and the charcuterie sauce, more like a bonus rather than needed given how well the pork was cooked. But what a bonus, it layered up the umami tastes and took the dish that extra step towards fantastical. The dessert meanwhile could easily have come straight from the dessert bar at Pollen Street Social, calling it simply 'ice cream' doesn't do it justice for this was a highly skilled dessert concoction of textures and tastes that I never wanted to end.
Food quantity
This was a complete and full meal.
Service
Service was impeccable throughout. By way of note, unlike some meals in this ‘series’, I dined with other people who ordered from the a la carte (and wished they hadn’t when they saw my meal).
Meal deal verdict
The set menu at Social Eating House was on my visit without fault. This was a quality meal at any price. At £21, considering the quality, it's as good a value meal as we have had since starting the blog.
Score
10/10
Salt cod fishcake, chive cream (lemon butter came in a jug on the side, not pictured)
Slow cooked pork belly, caramelized Choucroute, charcuterie sauce (again, on the side, not pictured)
Peanut ice cream, salted peanut, chocolate
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