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Tomato skins, preserved lemons, vietnamese pepper, blueberry vinaigrette, pickled daikon, dehydrated corn, nettle leaves. Walk into Scully’s restaurant from the concrete monotony of St James’s market and you’ll greeted with jars upon jars of ingredients – dried, fermented, preserved – all arranged like curious specimens in a science lab.
The experiments, of course, are what forms the basis of Scully’s culinary wizardry: these curiosities, lined up in every colour of the rainbow, help the kitchen to be as zero waste as possible while making the best of different global cuisines, nodding to the chef’s eclectic heritage. (Scully is Malaysian-born, Sydney-raised, with a mother of Chinese/Indian descent and father of Irish/Balinese.)
The whole thing feels understated and clean, allowing the dishes – which were definitely not understated – to sing, like paintings on a white gallery wall
The ex-Ottolenghi chef decided to add a vegan tasting menu to his offering in autumn of 2023 – an ambitious eight course arrangement clocking in at £95 per head plus an extra £75 for the wine flight. Your money goes a long way: the portions are on the healthy side of generous and you’ll leave feeling fully stuffed in a nice, plant-based kind of way. The interiors are chic with natural finishings, soundtracked by the clinking and clanking of an open kitchen, making it the sort of place to go for something special but unfussy. The whole thing feels understated and clean, allowing the dishes – which were definitely not understated – to sing, like paintings on a white gallery wall.
Similarly, each plate was visually stunning. The crunchy arepa, made with zesty 12 day fermented corn bread dusted with corn powder, designed to be stuffed with a gloriously zingy-but-sweet eggplant sambal, was a real highlight, and went down a treat with a nice glug of apricot-y orange. The zucchini, slathered with a smooth green curry sauce and turmeric coconut yogurt on top of a bed of urap sayur – crispy spiced coconut – sat on the plate like a chubby, delicious, tropical caterpillar. It had a satisfying bite to it, even if the portion was perhaps a little too large.
The desserts probably outshone the mains, thanks to being not just creative but daringly unusual. A sharp pineapple-shaped cucumber, fennel and apple lollipop, which fizzed and danced on the tongue like sherbet, was offered as a palatte cleanser, while a cooling strawberry and seaweed tartare with tomasu soy sauce and earl grey granite dissolved as soon as the spoon hit the mouth: each flavour tricking and changing as it melted with another a little more. Delicious.
Some of the flavours felt quite same-y for a tasting menu, with a reliance on coconut and citrus, but unlike a lot of fancier vegan food on the market, none of it was predictable – each dish was colourful, fun and fresh – keeping you on your toes and your belly excited for the next course.
The vibe Upmarket casual with chic, natural interiors.
The food Modern fushion food which is big on colour and flavour
The drink Choice of an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks flight, both well curated to accompany the courses and with great range, as well as a choice of punchy, innovative cocktails.
Time Out tip Order one of their special homemade kombuchas for refreshing kickstart to your meal.