Thursday 20 June 2013

Brunch at Mr Buckley's

On my quest to find new brunch venues in London last weekend I finally made it to Mr Buckley's in Hackney, a place I have walked past numerous times ( it just around the corner from Broadway Market and Lucky Chip) and which has been on my list of places to try for some time now. I had heard good things from friends and after checking out the menu was excited to sample the more unusual offerings they had even if on tasting they didn't quite measure up. That is not to say Mr Buckley's was bad, I particularly loved the minimal, wood heavy interior and attention to detail that clearly went into decorating the place but it lost a lot of its potential through shaky execution and rather nonchalant service. I believe service is key, all my favourite places in London have amazing staff that don't mind a question or two about dishes and actually know their stuff. At Mr Buckley's it felt more like we were a nuisance to the waitresses that floated aimlessly  through the room and  who were baffled by my request to have the crepes without bacon and instead with more sauce. The same half-heartedness was sadly also tangible in the brunch options my friend and I settled on. My crepe was pretty tasteless and despite sounding amazing on paper ( advertised as crepes with salted caramel and walnuts) delivered little in taste. The same was true for the Eggs Benedict with lobster and crayfish my friend ordered, an overpowering acidity in the sauce that ruined the overall balance of flavours.Why write a critical review you may ask? Well I think Mr Buckley's in its creative menu has a lot of potential and is nearly there in terms of food.  I will definitely return at some point as apart from Workshop coffee (my usual brunch haunt) too few places in London offer imaginative brunch options like the ones attempted here.  With a few minor adjustments in service and cooking Mr Buckley's could be truly great and a much needed addition to London's restaurant scene

3 comments:

Sophie said...

Oh no there's nothing worse than a disappointing meal. Puts a downer on your day!
Sophie
x

Sasha said...

Thats annoying it looks so good.
xx
Sasha

Sasha said...

That's annoying it looked so cute