The Water House Project

Bethnal Green is a funny patchwork of trendy coffee shops, bougie plant nurseries and dark, graffitied passageways. The Water House Project is a microcosm of that - it’s a little off the beaten track (down a particularly moody alley if you’re coming from Cambridge Heath) but emerge into Corbridge Crescent and you find the restaurant, resplendent in glass and concrete.

Chef Gabriel Waterhouse started his eponymous venture in his Bethnal Green flat in 2015, but has since evolved the concept to a bricks-and-mortar site. And yet, the restaurant still feels homely - there’s no divide between the kitchen and dining room, and combined with the enormous glass windows, high ceilings and smooth Nordic design, you feel as though you’re in someone’s Grand Designs kitchen.

At £120 per person, dinner with Gabriel is an expensive undertaking, but that price includes a drinks pairing (six throughout the meal), so if you’re someone who likes a wine flight, the price isn’t as wallet-crushing as it looks.

Dishes here have a fascinating ability to conjure nostalgic flavours. A sweetcorn mousse - light and frothy - paired with raisin chutney and herring roe, somehow has the fizzing essence of a prawn cocktail Skip (in a really good way). Later, a combo of Jerusalem artichoke, onion ash and hazelnut reminds us of a Snickers bar.

Taste and memory is very subjective of course, but there’s something very smart going on here. Every dish is a piece of art, beautifully sculpted and meticulously crafted. A gossamer-thin pastry case is the vehicle for a single bite of smoked eel, pineapple gel and horseradish - delicious. Cardamom sorbet, saffron custard, pistachio and rose is another stunning highlight. There are no missteps on the menu but a few dishes are perhaps playing a bit safe. Torched mackerel, horseradish, lovage and gooseberry is undeniably tasty, but we’ve eaten similar things on similar menus before.

Still, it feels unfair to criticise great food, and everything at The Water House Project is great, not least the personable and attentive service. We leave feeling well fed and happy. The alleyways are considerably duskier now, but The Water House Project at least has a bright future in Bethnal Green.

The Water House Project is a British tasting menu experience in Bethnal Green, run by chef Gabriel Waterhouse and his partner Patricia Wakaimba.

The large, open plan room is warm and modern, with floor-to-ceiling windows providing ample natural light in the day. Elegant Nordic touches make the space feel homely, and there’s no barrier between kitchen and guest, which leans into the transparency and honesty of Waterhouse’s cooking. The restaurant can host up to 28 guests at one time, who can choose to dine either on two communal tables, or keep to themselves on eight smaller tables dotted around the space.

The food at The Water House Project consists of either an 11 course ‘Seasons Discovery’ menu, or a 14 course ‘Seasons Signature’ menu, though guests should check before they book as the latter is not available at every service. Menus change every three months to match the passing seasons, with dishes always focused around local, seasonal ingredients at their peak.

You can always expect to find earthy flavours and subtle nods to Nordic cuisine, with Waterhouse having a penchant for pickling and fermenting. The team makes its own misos, grows koji on site, and uses lacto-fermentation and ageing to develop depth and character in both savoury and sweet elements. Whilst the majority of dishes will change from season to season, some signatures are permanent fixtures, such as Gabriel's hand-dived Orkney scallop with a lacto-fermented koji sauce.

Paired wines are an important part of the experience here and the list is updated regularly alongside the food offering. The house wines and pairings focus on producers that favour low-intervention methods, whilst simultaneously, Master of Wine Johnny Orton curates a more traditional wine list, sourcing from well-known European winemakers. Equally noteworthy is the restaurant’s non-alcoholic pairing – a vibrant and imaginative series of infusions, fermentations, and extractions that offer just as much complexity and satisfaction as the wine flight.