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The Clapton end of Chatsworth Road has been smartening up its act for some time. But if you’d headed over the brow towards Homerton hoping to find organic veg and almond milk, quite frankly you’d have been ’aving a giraffe.
Times have changed. Brooksby’s Walk now has Eat 17: a fancified branch of the Spar supermarket chain, smart burger bar and bistro combined to cater to all your gourmet needs.
Housed in a bunker-like former snooker hall, the downstairs convenience store is a world of gleaming white tiles and bright lighting, while the dining room upstairs is a more sophisticated affair with low lighting, leather banquettes and retro fittings.
The ambitious menu aims to please all palates with anything from simple cheeseburgers to chargrilled lamb with sweet red pepper sauce, yoghurt drizzle, a scattering of coriander and chopped pistachios on offer.
The lamb was rosy pink and pleasant if unremarkable; a starter of sprouting broccoli tempura was crisp and light, though the pomegranate molasses and soy sauce dressing was overly sharp.
In the march towards the gentrification of east London, the team behind this and the original grocery shop/eatery combo in Walthamstow Village get top mark for efforts. As for the food, in the words of ’90s boy band East 17, ‘It’s all right’.