I have to admit, the first time I visited Da Terra I was so hungover I nearly bailed. I had to down a ginger shot on the Tube, my hangxiety at critical levels. And yet it ended up being one of the best meals I have eaten in my life.
I don’t say that lightly. Having done this job for more than two decades, I’m often asked ‘What’s your favourite restaurant in London?’. Since that day, Da Terra has been my go-to response.
And I hadn’t even given it a fair shot. This time, I was coming in hot.
Since my last visit in 2022, Da Terra has retained its two Michelin star status, been awarded the No. 1 Restaurant in London by our near-namesake Square Meal, and come 19th in the National Restaurant Awards. It’s also had a complete four-week refurbishment.
The old space was a little cold and soulless – it didn’t do justice to the colour of the cooking. It’s now a much warmer proposition, one to match the welcome. Both the pass and a portion of the kitchen have been transported into the main dining room, recasting the chefs as players in a theatre of haute cuisine.
Alex Teuscher
We entered to a soundtrack of Roxette and a swiftly sunk pineapple twist on the classic caipirinha – the first of many nods to chef Rafael Cagali’s homeland of Brazil.
Cagali’s early years were spent in the ‘per kilo’ restaurants of São Paulo, which were pioneered by his mother and aunt. A number of Da Terra’s dishes draw influence from those early days – including the signature Moqueca fish stew that has become a permanent fixture on the ten-course tasting menu.
Young Cagali worked his way around Europe – first London then the Italian Lakes and next Spain – mastering his craft. He was evidently a quick learner. A stint at Quique Dacosta’s three Michelin-starred restaurant in Denia was followed by a return to the UK – first to Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck, then to Simon Rogan’s in-house development kitchen Aulis. It’s been quite the training ground – one that has resulted in some of the most intense and spectacular flavour combinations you’ll enjoy anywhere in the world, let alone in Bethnal Green.
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The Edwardian town hall that houses Da Terra – ‘Of the land’ in Brazilian Portuguese – couldn’t be much further from the streets of São Paulo. The Grade II-listed building was converted into a luxury hotel in 2010, the old Bethnal Green Town Hall still retaining much of the original character from a century ago. The dishes served here, though, are about as contemporary as they come.
The first bite of the evening is a perfect cylinder of nori housing ChalkStream trout belly enriched with beef fat topped with trout roe. This delicate, umami-rich snack combines the creamy, fatty fish with salty, popping roe. It is, for want of a less-hackneyed label, a taste sensation and indicative of the feast to come.
And feast is the operative word – it is a festival of flavour and colour, probably best embodied by the fish course.
Cornish red mullet with ajo blanco
Kira Turnbull
Hogget with courgettes and spring green salad
Kira Turnbull
A line-caught Cornish red mullet is presented by Cagali himself having been lightly cured in salt and sugar, before a flash by the blowtorch gives it a smoky, crisp finish. It’s poised on a velvety ajo blanco, haloed by basil oil, and punctuated by intense droplets of tomato emulsion and the warm tang of radish. Further texture comes from a sourdough tuile, with aromatic yellow nasturtium petals completing the (very pretty) picture. It is a kaleidoscopic course – one that my dining companion simply concluded: “Well, that’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten.” I concur.
The main savoury course is a masterclass in the lesser spotted hogget – meat from a young sheep falling in maturity between lamb and mutton – so you get the tenderness of the former with the more gamey intense flavour of the latter. Both saddle and belly are cooked beautifully – the belly is confited overnight and served with a topping of pickled mustard seeds and pink peppercorn, while the saddle is joined by a roasted lamb and oyster mushroom jus. All this richness is happily offset by a zingy spring vegetable salad served with a crisp sweetbread, alongside a courgette purée tasty enough to make me consider vegetarianism – if it weren’t for all the, you know, hogget.
Coming full circle at the end, a miniature baba is given another Brazilian makeover courtesy of a cachaça consommé that delivers a brighter, lighter expression than the traditional Caribbean rum. It’s topped with a silky pistachio ice cream and a spoonful of aged N25 caviar. Stun-ning.
Da Terra's cachaça twist on a rum baba.
Alex Teuscher
Thanks to the restaurant’s new layout, the evening doesn’t end with dessert. Coffee and petits fours can be enjoyed in the lounge across the hall from the main dining room. Decorated with mid-century modern furniture and a collection of curated Brazilian art and artefacts, it’s the kind of space that encourages just one more for the road.
And after a meal like that, your eventual departure will not be a one-way trip. Da Terra is the kind of place you don’t just recommend – you return to, again and again.
Alex Teuscher
Tasting Menu £260; Short Tasting Menu (available Weds, Thurs and Fri dinner) £185; Lunch 3-course Menu £110; Wine Pairing £160; 8 Patriot Square, London E2 9NF; 020 7062 2052; https://www.daterra.co.uk/
