The Frog Restaurant Review: London’s Most Delicious Set Lunch Menu and My Dish of the Year

I can’t resist until the end of this post, I need to tell you now – The Frog is absolutely stunning. If you know me well, you’ll know I rarely head east, especially Shoreditch – it’s incredibly crowded at the weekend and Brick Lane moves at snail speed. But this time around we beat the crowds to it, picked up some samosas and bhajis along the way for dinner and scoured the side streets for The Frog. It turns out this latest opening from chef Adam Handling is slightly off the beaten track, in a car park. It certainly wasn’t the location I was expecting but inside it’s a whole other story. A cosy outdoor terrace with heaters, furry blankets and a DJ. Inside it’s industrial, has lovely large tables and the whole kitchen is open for diners to see inside – with Handling at its forefront.

Settled into the cosiness of The Frog and with wine in hand – THAT chicken skin butter arrived. The one I’d been spying on the way over on social media, begging for it to taste every bit as good as it looked. And it did. Rich, meaty, seasoned and speared with shards of crispy chicken fat. An extra grating of chicken skin over the top wouldn’t have been frowned upon if they fancy making it even better still. The home-baked bread, served warm was also gorgeous. Perhaps even better still was the pre-starter doughnuts, yep – doughnuts. Though these weren’t any ordinary doughnuts, but savoury ones – filled with a cheesy sauce and smothered in Parmesan cheese grating and truffle dust coating. The best cheesy doughnut you will ever eat.

We dined off the restaurants new lunch set menu, which priced at £35 including a glass of wine is an absolute bargain. It may not be as cheap as local competition, but at this price you wont find this quality, excitement or flavour in every plate of food. Out starters were two we honestly expected to only like, but instead fell in love with. First out was the pork with pineapple, cheese and lovage. Just about everything on the plate was screaming flavour, with a lovely smokiness running thought it all. With the mix of cheese, pork and pineapple, it really did remind me of a Hawaiian pizza. It just shows that Adam’s cooking isn’t just perfect comfort food – but that it’s nostalgic. Our other starter of celeriac, truffle, yolk, apple and dates wasn’t much to look at, but in the mouth it gave just about everything – and more.

And then there were the main courses. When your meal starts off so well as it did here, there’s always that thought in the back of your mind of “I hope main courses don’t let us down” and thankfully they didn’t. This crazy looking plate of food was a mixture of lamb shank, crispy potatoes, sour cream and garlic. Every flavour on the plate worked in harmony with one another and the lamb shank was perfectly cooked, but still charred to very most point without the meat becoming dry. There was also a lovely smokiness which ran through the entire dish, like silk woven into fabric. Flavour was everywhere and in every bite.

And yes it did get even better once more. This time with a plate of the most unusual mac ‘n’ cheese – which is now refereed to as the best mac ‘n’ cheese I have ever eaten. Imagine the classic version we know and love, but given more flavour and mixed into a pot of fondue. There’s just no way of describing how good it really was. Individual pieces of macaroni were arranged on the plate in a circle, which was then covered in a rich but light, almost mouse like sauce of three different cheeses – Gruyere, Cheddar and Parmesan. If that wasn’t enough it was then smothered in a sprinkling of grated fresh truffle. I’ve no idea what went through Adam’s mind when he created this dish – but the man is pure genius.

Pre-dessert was this vibrant plate named ‘beetroot, beetroot and more beetroot’. I’m not entirely sure how they made this dish and how long it probably took to come up with, but either way it was fantastic. Somewhere in-between sweet and savour it really was the perfect dish to prepare our palate for desserts – with its very beetroot sorbet filling and its sweet, candy like outer structure.

There was never a bad dish here at The Frog, but if improvements were ever to be made it would be with desserts. They’re great – but I know they can be even greater. The favourite was the burnt honey with malted ice cream and lemon. Layers of flavour upon flavour – we were left salivating after just our first bite. The Frog’s version of the tiramisu, served with liquid nitrogen was again lovely, but very boozy. The centre of this chocolate tiramisu was filled with a liquid caramel centre and topped with chewy chunks of meringue. The perfect dish for all alcoholics out there.

I’ve eaten a lot of meals over the past year and hand on heart, The Frog has been my most memorable one to date. From changing my outlook on Shoreditch, to serving me a meal where every dish wasn’t only unforgettable visually, but in the mouth – not to mention for serving me a dish which will be becoming my dish of the year. If you’re looking for a tasting menu to not break the bank, a bargain set lunch menu or dishes which you simply won’t forget then The Frog has it all. Adam Handling may well be sent from another planet because no chef right now is as exciting with their cooking as he is. I really can’t wait to come back – I’m already dreaming about it.