Sat Bains, View of London, Intimate Dining, 7 courses, Exquisite Food

Yesterday I was honoured to go to The Cube by Electrolux at the Royal Festival Hall. Situated overlooking the River Thames, its grey skies, the London Eye, there was nothing better than taking in the view of this great city.

The restaurant is perched on the rooftop exterior of the Royal Festival Hall, after taking in the melodies of the Singing Lift to the sixth floor members bar we are greeted by the professional waiters, waitresses and hosts at our lunch.

Plied with delicious champagne and cooling horseradish ice cream hors d’oeuvre on arrival we are led to our table. A long crisp white table, seating up to 15-20 diners, it overlooks the majestic London Eye and ceremonial world flags perched on the side of the building.

You pass Chef Sat Bains and co busy preparing on their open plan kitchen, decked out with Electrolux appliances, small space yet efficiently working team. The decor is minimalist, with pure white and dark wood, with an iconic angular shape, clean and crisp.

As we are seated Sat comes out to welcome everyone and explains his cuisine as being “fresh, sustainably sourced produce” we are all in awe with anticipation on the forthcoming 5-7 courses.  The table is laden with 4-5 wine glasses per person for each course which is perfectly matched by a sommelier.

First course is a chilled soup, vibrant green, with small croutons of bread soaked in the juices. It is fresh, with a horseradish heat at every sip, contrasting with the cold temperature of the soup.

The next dish was my favourite or what you would call the “wow” dish. It was amazing, soft, fresh, seared scallops, raw on the other side, laced with vanilla, nodules of  sweet strawberry and tomato salsa. Dressed on the plate with tiny leaves, this dish encapsulates summer, such an aesthetically beautiful layout and the taste exceeded all expectations.

I could have savoured this dish for longer, every single intense bite, bursting in your mouth with a powerhouse of flavours, sweet and savoury.

The ambience in the restaurant was constantly changing and adapting to each course, I am told at night-time you can experience this better, the sound of the music and the course of light changes to complete the experience.

Soon after the next course was Jersey royals, with dashi, onion juice and ham, using pork belly to give it an indulgence to the dish.

The next course was presented with a multi mix of colours, from the dark black sauce, dots of lemon curd, charred leeks, goats cheese and spring lamb. It was a warming, carefully executed dish, every mouthful complimented the other, tangy lemon curd, moist lamb, creamy goats cheese..

At the pass you could pop up to the table, watch team members and Sat prepare the food, calmly knocking out a process of exquisitely presented dishes. It’s a great concept to interact with the chef (it also comes at a price of £175-215 I was told) but you feel like you have a private audience with the chef and being cooked for on such an intimate level.

This next dish is the Banbury cake, slowly easing your palette into the port syrup drizzled over the marbled Beauvale cheese, cutting into the flaky pastry and warm sultanas. It reminded me of christmas!

Having eyed up this dessert at the pass and hearing the word chocolate, it was enough to create a buzz of excitement. Especially upon hearing about the cumin,coriander and lime infused yoghurt propped upon delectable rich chocolate. It’s a fusion of spices and chocolate. Amazing, I would have never have thought to use fresh coriander with desserts.

After we were given a glorious coral looking puff of treacle sponge (made in the microwave I believe!) with a buttermilk custard and apples. This dessert has a very lemony and pine hint to it, with its soft pillows of sponge and thin soured custard.

Finally we were delivered lollipop sticks protruding out of wooden boxes, beetroot cold parfait covered in white chocolate and freeze-dried berries for that undeniable crunch. A cooling palette cleanser and finish to a exquisite, special and worthy of 2 stars meal. It was lovely to meet Sat Bains, who seemed so charming, cool and unnerved in his entirety.

A great dining concept, a special experience, I was honored to be a part of it, especially hearing the line up of chefs to come over the next four months including Daniel Clifford and Tom Kitchin. It is expensive but that it was you expect for the cuisine that is produced, location and attention given in every aspect and way.

The Cube London runs from 1st June to 30th September