Shoreditch and Old Street hold a special place in my heart. My first job in journalism was a stone’s throw from the famous Old Street roundabout, and the first places I rented in my 20s were just up the road in Shoreditch and Hoxton.
Fifteen years ago I knew the area like the back of my hand, and had my favourite restaurants and bars for after-work drinks / crazy weekend partying / Sunday brunches.
Now, much has changed and there are new hotels, bubble tea cafes and coffee shops galore. As my husband and I exited from Old Street tube (again, a huge change, what’s happened to that labyrinth of exits?), a lot was different although some was reassuringly familiar, like the council estates rising up above the fire station and the slightly edgy feel to the area.
Of course, there’s an invasion of expensive, glass-fronted offices and flats, but many people we strolled passed could still be branded as young and trendy (read ‘hipster’) and you still have to jump out of the way from the thousands of cyclists that hurtle across the roads and pavements.
So, having since swapped my east London digs for a north London family home with hubby and two kids, where were we off to, on this rare date night out in Shoreditch?
UBA by Hart Shoreditch is our destination, a pan-Asian restaurant that opened inside the hotel in April last year. It’s an alluring, even sultry, place, with dimmed lighting and a lovely fragrance wafting round, and we immediately feel relaxed as well as hungry – the menu looks mouth-watering!
Head chef Pavel Baranovs has put together a gourmet adventure with dishes from Tokyo, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore, showcasing a mix of small and big plates, as well as sashimi and sushi, hirata buns and dim sum.
We begin with a shiso spritz (a refreshing cocktail of gin and garden flavours like apple, cucumber and lemon) and an AKA-Tokyo (think whisky, cherry blossom vermouth and yuzu bitters).
It’s tricky to decide on food – the dishes all sound amazing – but settle on Korean crispy fried chicken and almond miso glazed aubergine to start. The chicken is light and crispy, small and perfectly formed, with a sweet but spicy kick at the end. The aubergine has a rich, unctuous sauce with a fantastic umami flavour.
Next up, we order mushroom mapo tofu and beef ribeye with sweet potato nest. My husband reminds me that he loved eating mapo tofu when we lived in Hong Kong for a brief stint. You don’t see it often in the UK, and when he had it in HK it was usually with pork mince. A mushroom lover, my husband declares his main course to be a huge success, both innovative and delicious.
The ribeye is rich and luxurious, and I enjoy the crispy shredded sweet potato. The restaurant is starting to get busier. It’s a large venue and it’s a Monday night so it’s by no means full, but there’s still a good atmosphere. A few solo diners (probably hotel guests), several couples, and some groups (including one woman celebrating her birthday) occupy the tables near us.
There’s some funky lounge bar beats, and I like the décor of auspicious red and gold with marble and wood, plus tiger statues and graphics, reflecting the Asian culture.
So far, so relaxed – and also quite full. Should we have dessert? The menu answers that question for us. Like the savoury plates, the sweet dishes are all my kind of flavours. A lychee jasmine and raspberry crème brulee? Absolutely. A Japanese chocolate forest floor? I’m not sure what that is, but yes, please.
The crème brulee turns out to be a little triumph and possibly the star of this whole Asian fusion menu. The subtle flavour with the occasional punch of lychee, the beautiful presentation and a mysterious calpis sorbet. And, yes, I was wondering that, too. Chat GPT on my phone tells me that “calpis is a popular Japanese soft drink made from fermented milk… known for its slightly tangy, sweet and milky flavour”. Which sounds rather strange, but my taste buds adored it.
And my husband was delighted with his forest floor, full of deep, dark chocolate and jaunty textures.
This a fun and tasty place for a date night, all wrapped up in a stylish hotel. We pat ourselves on the back for finding this exciting addition to the Shoreditch scene, and get ready to roll back to Old Street tube. Happy first birthday UBA, we will be back soon!
UBA, 61 – 67 Great Eastern St, Hackney, London EC2A 3HU. For more information, and for bookings, please visit www.hilton.com.
