Whitechapel Gallery Dining Room

The restaurant occupies a very sympathetically and beautifully restored room attached to the gallery. Big windows, mirrors and light wood furniture gives a very airy feel. Hence, despite the lack of space between tables, normally has a very pleasant breezy atmosphere. A bit of a contrast to most of the other buildings and restaurants nearby.

Eaten here 5-6 times in the last 6-8 months, either midweek dinner or Saturday lunch. The menu is normally short but certainly sufficient. The food is usually pretty good, and has been improving. A bias to simpler and more seasonal dishes, which I think works very well and suits our taste. We've eaten some very tasty risotto, lamb, mackerel and some very moorish truffle chips, plus some other less memorable dishes. Service is usually friendly, informal but professional. Also improved.

We usually pay £45-£50 for 2, for 2 courses, inc service ex all drinks; or average £85 in total inc drinks / extras. Very reasonable bills and very good value.

Overall, a great venue which has noticeably improved over the last year – very much “on the up”. Can treat as a formal or informal dining experience, given the attached gallery. A very good option for modern Euro / English cooking in this area.

Very much recommended – and you can combine with a look around one of London's leading contemporary galleries – normally something of interest !

I went with my girlfriend for dinner. The food is very good and I would have thought eligible for a Bib Gourmand. It is formal dining but given the location you can easily turn up in jeans. The bill for 3 courses each plus a bottle of wine and 2 cocktails each came to roughly over £100 which given the quality and its proximity to central London is very reasonable. I would have expected it to be more than that.

Atomsphere
Low lighting and given the space it felt open and airy. Light wood panel and light colours throughout. There was a large group behind us who were particularly obnoxious but the staff were apologetic and aware of this in order to try to make us more comfortable.

Food
The food is excellent and I intend on going again. It is reasonably priced given the quality and very quick to the table. There was also an amuse bouche.

I recommend booking and Sunday lunch is the same as the dinner menu but set price for 3 courses which makes it even more reasonable. Highly recommended and offers a better range of choice for the area which is otherwise populated with the usual suspects on Brick Lane.

I have visited the restaurant twice now – once as part of a visit to the Gallery, and once for dinner. Both meals were excellent, with all the dishes we tried from the short-ish menu being beautifully presented, bang up to date seasonally, and terrifically tasty. Our favourites were the bream and the wild garlic & leek soup, though the textures of heritage carrots is a wonderful dish that I would choose again as a main course even though I'm not veggie.
Of the two visits, I'd recommend going in the evening, when the atmosphere is cosier, and the contrast of the sleek restaurant design with the somewhat unloved street scene outside is starker.