If you’ve spent any time wandering around Shoreditch, you’ve likely spotted Delamina EAST’s avocado-green facade on Commercial Street. With tall windows, dinky bistro curtains, and olive trees flanking the entrance, the restaurant feels thoroughly inviting, and the interiors are just as charming. Pot plants hang from macrame planters, while natural light pours in through rear windows. You can perch at the terrazzo counter for a glass of wine and a snack, or settle into a table in the spacious dining room.
Delamina’s success has been built around approachable Middle Eastern and Med-adjacent small plates, the sort that we’re now intimately familiar with thanks to the Ottolenghification of British dining. Expect tahini, chickpeas, pita bread, toasted almonds, yoghurt and pomegranate seeds galore, but despite the familiarity, Delamina EAST never feels tired. Instead, the kitchen delivers a striking variety of vibrant, well-balanced dishes.
Take the crisp lettuce cups, piled high with charcoal-grilled chicken and drizzled in spicy tahini and date molasses. Each bite offers heat, sweetness, crunch from roasted almonds, and the tang of molasses - a dish where the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. We loved the intensely crispy roast potatoes with garlic yoghurt, the whole charred cauliflower bathed in lemon creme fraiche and pomegranate molasses, and paprika-roasted mushrooms with cashews. The menu’s extensive vegetarian offering gives popular neighbour Bubala a run for its money. And then there’s the standout: chermoula-marinated sea bass with a lemon and herb crust, expertly cooked over coals.
Dessert trend towards the very sweet, but mango and pomegranate parfait is a light, refreshing finale. With top-notch cooking and stylish interiors, Delamina EAST delivers accessible, delicious food that works for all occasions.