The City’s Great Eastern Dining Room

Fusion – that most menacing of words. By itself, it is perfectly harmless but when it is linked up with other words to describe worldly phenomena, it can end up with uneasy results. Cold fusion is something of a holy grail for scientists, a safe way to produce energy for the benefit of all humanity.

But when fusion is applied to music however, it is often the most heinous set of frequencies you could have the misfortune to hear. If someone is describing a band and are saying, ‘Well they’re a fusion of reggae with a bit of drum ‘n’ base dropping acid in the middle of Cambodian hoe down’, simply stop them and say, ‘No, what they are is an utter waste of my time’.

There is a similar issue with fusion in food. The idea was very big in the Eighties but the problem with it is that you’re likely to miss out on the essence of both sets of food and end up with something of a mish-mash.

So it was with some trepidation that I came to the Great Eastern Dining Room. One advantage the venue has is that it has been there for over 13 years, predating the time when Shoreditch was a lost part of London, completely unpopulated by men in their twenties wearing cardigans.

The interior is quite chic with low-level lighting, antique mirrors and Gio Ponti sofas to give a swish atmosphere. I picked out a range dishes to try and get a feel for what the restaurant is offering.

I started off with the prawn har gau, which featured a devilishly good mixture of spices. The next item was picked off the menu for sheer curiosity value; the duck, watermelon and cashew salad. I was intrigued to see how something so rich as duck could go with a fruit so watery as watermelon. In the end, it was delightful, an elegant combination that made the duck that much more juicy to the taste.

For main, I asked for a recommendation from the waitress who very eagerly pointed out the black cod with sweet miso sauce. At £28, I’m not surprised that it came with the restaurant’s blessing. But given she said that it was one of the restaurant’s speciality dishes, I thought I should try it out.

The experiment was a well worth the investment. The sweet miso gilded the fish, making for a sumptuous creation whose taste heightened with each mouthful. It would cost as much as the rest of my meal combined and although it was divine, the price might put it out of the reach of most diners.

The meal was finished off with a passion fruit panna cotta and was perfectly reasonable. I left the restaurant much more of a convert to the idea of fusion, which is due to the fact that the restaurant does not stray too far from the principles of good cooking.

Great Eastern Dining Room
54-56 Great Eastern Street
City of London
EC2A 3QR