Less a ‘listening bar’ and more of a ‘dancing restaurant’, the disco diva dining hall that is London Fields’ Bambi only opened a couple of years back, but such is the popularity of its eats-plus-beats concept, they’ve knocked into the abandoned tattoo parlour next door and doubled the space’s capacity.
A mighty gochujang squash is served like a shamaninc offering
With a mirror ball, new mezzanine, bold artworks from in-demand illustrator Alec Doherty and absolutely roaring smoking area, Bambi 2:0 feels more like a club than ever before, with tables pushed aside at 11pm to create a dancefloor as the place morphs into Netil House’s approxmiation of Paradise Garage. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the food must have suffered in the face of such dedication to the sesh. How wrong you would be.
Head chef Jamie Thorneycroft honed his flair for fire and ferments over at Lagom, the BBQ kitchen once in residence at Hackney Church Brew Co that’s now dishing out burgers at Dalston Lane’s Three Compasses. His menu is potent stuff, with flavours more than capable of making themselves heard over nightly vinyl-only DJs.
Fluffy sourdough comes from nearby bakery Forno (an off-shoot of beloved local restaurant, Ombra), and is truly divine when dipped into gossamer-light whipped ricotta, swirled with lashings of hot honey (I’m not bored of hot honey yet, and you shouldn’t be either). After something a little more butch? Try the velvety butterbean hummus studded with crispy fava beans.
Deep fried blocks of feta come resting on a sharp quince relish, and are topped with a slice of pickled chilli that’s worn like a quirky beret. Eating cubes of cheese this large in a public setting is normally frowned upon, but Bambi thoroughly encourages the desperate glutton inside us all. Burnt leeks are hidden under a thick winter duvet of tart and tangy escabeche sauce, then showered with a whopping walnut and assorted seeds dukkah. Every dish here wears multiple accessories like a bohemian great aunt, but it’s not just about looks, this is attractive food with the personality to back it up.
Prawns are just as seductive, deeply burnished on the grill and curled around a gothic splodge of black garlic aioli like one of your French girls. It’s followed by a mighty main of gochujang squash, the priapic gourd served as if it were a shamaninc offering, humming with complex and smokey red miso, sesame, and yes, more seeds. Let it be known that Bambi is a very seed-positive kind of place. The simplest dish of all is the fleshy picanha steak with a rich cowboy butter that melts garlicky goodness into the meat.
Thai-influenced mackerel salad is Bambi’s least overtly flirty offering, but stands out as one of the more salad-y salads we’ve enjoyed lately, packed with huge fronds of mint and coriander, slathered with an aromatic nam-jim dressing, and shreds of sweet, smoked fish.
If your table hasn’t made way for the dancefloor by this point, order the fluffy Basque cheesecake, before Bambi’s disco ball floods the space with light, and you do your best to shimmy through one of the most compelling dinner experiences Hackney has to offer.
The vibe A scene-y Hackney party bistro with DJs, a dancefloor, and an up-for-it crowd. Small plates are around £10-15 and large, sharing plates £18-38.
The food Globally-inspired dishes with lots of funky fermentation.
The drink Low-intervention wines from across the world, as well as an on-trend cocktail offering; pickle martinis and hibiscus margs.
Time Out tip Check Bambi’s What’s On page if you want to know more about who’ll be DJing when you go.