With a new Italian-inspired food and drink menu, Tabernacle have reasserted their position as one of Shoreditch’s very best food and drink hotspots.

The Venue
Tabernacle is housed in a grand Victorian building and makes the most of its interior by combining a three-in-one entertainment space, comprising of a spacious bar, smart restaurant and basement club.

The ground floor is split into two, with the more generous room given to the bar. There are plenty of modern furnishings and the bar is given a reassuring warm glow by the luminous orange and red backlighting. Walk through a small passage and you’re presented with a smart and confident dining area that seats up to 60 people. The kitchen machinations are on display in the open plan galley. Headed up by chef James Robson, the food here is one of the major reasons to pay a visit.

Downstairs, the club (which, to the owner’s credit, doesn’t command an extra fee) is currently getting the final touches put to its refurb. With a catwalk-shaped LCD dance floor, communal booths and more intimate lighting, the venue is importing Disco Bloodbath to give some underground credibility to their upmarket sensibilities.

The Atmosphere
If you’re a loft-dwelling resident of any of the neighbouring streets, the venue’s domineering corner position near the junction of Tabernacle Street and Leonard Street means it has probably been on your nightime radar for some time. If you haven’t yet signed up to the East End revolution by joining the flight to the grimy streets around this area, the good news is that a taxi from Liverpool Street station will cost you less than a fiver and Old Street station is even closer.

This venue provides concrete proof – if proof were needed, Shoreditch House, Lounge Lover anyone? - that Shoreditch and upmarket venues are not mutually exclusive. In fact, there are plenty of people in the surrounding area to appreciate the stylish surroundings and top end food and drink, and there’s no membership scheme or door charge in sight.

The Food
One word sums up the staff: passionate. From the sourcing of their Tuscan ingredients, through to the adventurous picks on the wine menu (again Tuscan), to the presentation and quality of the food they serve, Tabernacle takes obvious pride in delivering a strong product. Their six course menu showcases all the very best that Tabernacle has to offer. It costs £49.50 (or £35 without the matching wines). Considering the quality and generous portion sizes of each dish this represents genuine value for money.

On arrival, for nibbles, there are mutant looking Puglian olives, whose sheer girth and glistening appearance gives them the status of heavyweight champion of the olive world. There are also long, slim fennel-flavoured breadsticks, which are incredibly moreish; they taste sweet and herby and are well suited to a little olive oil.

Once you sit down, the serious eating begins. First up is an antipasto of sorts with Culatello ham and salami, salted buffalo ricotta and Brindisi melon. The ham comes in an extra-fine sliver and is beautiful. The salami again has a very sophisticated flavour and is very finely balanced in terms of its salt content. Finally, the melon is in stark contrast with its sweet and succulent taste and texture. Round two sees the Tuscan fish stew served up on a slice of thick toasted white farmhouse bread. The only shellfish present are mussels, so clams would be a nice addition here. What you do get is a mix of cod, scallops and squid. Altogether this is a very tasty combination with a smoky butter and lemon flavour lingering in your mouth.

The next course is the richest and most intense moment on the menu. The Rotolo, rolled pasta with new season pumpkin, comes with a runny poached Tuscan egg on top and a shard of shredded Suffolk mallard and little pieces of truffle. With so many strong flavours abounding in this dish its distinctive taste might be better enjoyed without less food in one sitting. You may think that dish signals the end of the main dishes, but you’d be wrong. The 35-day aged Longhorn beef Fiorentine follows and it’s exceptional. The delicate and perfectly rare cooked beef comes with a thankfully light rocket, tomato and mushroom salad. However full you feel, you can find room to finish every last morsel of this plate.

Finally, after loosening a couple of buttons on your outfit, you reach the final stretch of pecorino cheese served encrusted on doughy bread with chestnut honey and a Puglian peach poached with Prosecco and mint. The peaches on display in the restaurant are enough to confirm that the chefs are working with the finest ingredients.

The Drink
Whether or not you have the tasting menu, there are quite a few drink options available. More than a dozen wines are available by the glass, with bottles from a very reasonable £13.50, and the cocktail list starts at an equally reasonable £6. Recommended aperitifs include Prosecco, with muddled red grapes at its core, and Burton Lilith, which is a dark coloured Tuscan beer. The Castello Banfi 2006 is a good match for ham and salami and it’s a very pungent cross of chardonnay and sauvignon blanc white grapes. This wine is not one for the faint hearted and it has an intense oaky flavour that is a bit over powering. The Pagliatura Vermintino della Maremma is an excellent complementary tipple to the seafood, with its sweet taste bringing comparison to say a Vina Esmeralda from Spain.

For pasta dishes, try the Bosco 2000, made from Syrah grapes, a very powerful and complex red that stands up against its fellow Italians like the mighty Barolo. It comes decanted to preserve its natural beauty. A more familiar red, the Chianti Classico 2001 reserva is a decent foil to red meat, although it lacks the spectacular fireworks of the Bosco. If you’re in the mood for a dessert wine, those with a sweet tooth should go for the extreme sugar rush that is the Vin Santo.

The Last Word
Whether as a special meal out for you and a loved one, or for a group of friends and work colleagues, Tabernacle ticks all the boxes. Make an effort and you will find it worth every penny.

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