This is a story of Number 8 bus.

Two things never die in London: Pubs and bus routes. You often see an old pub in London stuck on the end of something modern, or perhaps located in the middle of a large area of flats. These freehold premises have survived as little landmarks of a London that has disappeared, sometimes cleared by war, sometimes just by overzealous town planning. But up until this week, I had never really thought about the longevity of bus routes.

One half of my family has its roots firmly in the East End, the other South of the river (how they ever co-existed is a mystery). We chose Spitalfields for lunch as it is very convenient for Liverpool Street, my parents being regular users of the Elizabeth Line. I don’t think either of them had been there since it was an actual market, so they were shocked by how different it was, and how exactly the same it was, the fabric of the area pretty much untouched, but the inside of the market and surround so completely different.

But what amazed me was that my mother used to travel up here on the number 8 bus from Bethnal Green after the war (her sisters went to school round the corner), and the same bus route survives today. And as Number 1 son is now one of the new wave of hipster immigrants to the East End, we took the number 8 back to his flat, past where my mother grew up, with her pointing out all sorts of interesting family history on the way. London really is the greatest city in the world…

Anyhow, you’re here for a restaurant review, not a history lesson, so on to Delamina East.

The food is Middle Eastern. We had looked at the menu beforehand and all selected a variety of dishes we fancied, so were a little poleaxed by finding it was a “brunch” menu, which knocked off a fair few of the pre-selections. However, what was one the menu was more than good enough as it turned out.

Ordering starters was easy: We just had one of each of the Mazetim, which between 6 of us was fine, with two rounds of bread. As much hummus as Imad, at half the price! Do order a fritter each, though. The waiter went out of his way to ensure that for the spicier dishes the chili was supplied on the side to accommodate some of our more delicate guests. Everything was excellent, although the pickles I could take or leave (And I love pickles)

To follow, we were steered off the koftas (too much turmeric for the one member of our party who wanted them), so settled for the salmon and cauliflower. The cauliflower comes in three sizes, and the generally hungriest member of our party plumped for a large. Our ever-cheerful server said that the large was “Hilariously massive”, and so we all downgraded to medium!

Both dishes were superb. I am going to be really sad when cauliflower goes out of fashion again, as it is great at soaking up and absorbing flavour, while retaining its texture.

Again, I was with pudding eaters, which is often the “blah, blah, blah” bit of the meal for me, given how infrequently you see cheese on menus (and you would not expect to at a Middle Eastern restaurant!), but I am told they were delicious, especially the crunchy praline.

To drink we had a couple of glasses of excellent rose, and a carafe of the Montecalvo (it is sort of half a bottle), which was very refreshing on an unusually hot Spring day.

As I said at the beginning, the service was friendly, informative and not intrusive, as well as very patient. The restaurant was not busy when we arrived at 1pm, but got really buzzy as the afternoon wore on. However, at no time did the staff seem frazzled, and it was not too loud or too crowded.

Price-wise, it was not too dissimilar to Imad’s in the end, but we chose incredibly wisely there. Here we had whatever we wanted, and didn’t feel in the least bit ripped off. We will definitely be back. There are a couple of other restaurants in the chain, but as always, it is hard to know if they have managed to carry over what is great about this location to the others. I’ll let you know if I’m brave enough to risk the disappointment!

Conclusion

Overall Rating: 5/5

• Food: 5/5
• Service: 5/5
• Value 4.5/5
• Drinks: 4.5/5
• Atmosphere: 4.5/5
• Will we be back: 5/5

Delamina East: https://www.delaminakitchen.co.uk/delamina-east/