Cornerstone

One of the best meals and restaurant experiences I've ever had.

Will definitely be returning!

Food was excellent - we could not decide which one was our favourite as they were all delicious (actually it was the Mackerel pate, simply great!!)

What a great local restaurant. Quality food, great service and sensible (for London) prices. Definitely worth a try, if you can venture this far east!

We really enjoyed our lunchtime experience at Cornerstone. The staff were patient and helpful. The food was mainly delicious, inventive and surprising. One of the best carrot eating experiences i have ever had. The menu is all sea food based & I would have liked a few vegetarian options, but the chefs choice of six shared plates was good value for money and i guess sea food is their shtick and chosen with consideration. Being aged, i am sometime shocked at things like 4.50 for toast, but it was v tasty toast.
The overall spirit of the place is appealing, with thick felt curtain covering one wall, so the sound quality was sympathetic, rather than brittle and clattery, even though it is shared cooking and dining. For me this is an important issue which is often ignored, but transforms a dining experience when it is done correctly.
I particularly enjoy that it is very near us in Hackney Wick and i guess would encourage some form of local munificence by offering an occasional sitting for local folk to try delicious food at reduced cost, so that it feels a little more integrated rather than dropped in from on high.

After reading great reviews, I was really disappointed with a recent visit to Cornerstone. The food sounds great on the menu, but fails to deliver on the plate. The plates look good but we found the flavour of the food was not well balanced across the menu. For example, the carrot plate is overpowered by the cod roe; the John Dory plate is overpowered by the creamy sauce; the mackerel pate is far too rich for the treacle bread so we found you only get one, dominant flavour on each dish & the others are lost. Service was ok but a bit inconsistent. Sometimes the waiters were too chatty & too keen to interact with you, then at other times you felt like you were being ignored. Another major flaw of this restaurant is the furniture. Unless you are over 6 foot tall, the chairs are far too low for the tables which makes for an uncomfortable dining position. The prices are also far too high for the quality of the food, portion size and location of the venue. You can get much better seafood in a more refined setting for the same prices at places like J Sheekey in central london - the price point here is way off. The only selling point for this restaurant is the wine. Cornerstone has an excellent wine list and a wonderful selection of wines by the glass. Unless you are going for the wine, I would not recommend this restaurant.

It tasted great! Excellent, highly skilful food. We had the chef's selection and loved it all. Every dish was the best one! And it was served smoothly in a relaxed informal atmosphere. We had a friendly informal welcome and then attentive service throughout. Very satisfying all round.

Cornerstone is superb and highly recommended. Open kitchen, nice interior and a great buzz. Really informed and helpful service/staff... but the Piece de resistance is the seafood cookery - really incredible flavours - some even promoting an emotional/nostalgic response - something pretty rare for a meal out!!

The whole experience was very uneven, most of the food and wine was stellar but some of the service was a quite uptight and perhaps too stern to really allow for relaxed dining. As a party of 6 we were required to order the set menu, even though there was one vegetarian who had to order a la carte anyway. No complaints about the set menu, but all of it was explained to us in such a convoluted way that it mostly confused us and made us feel like we had no choice, when it could have been sold as good value for a party, which is exactly what it ended up being. We ordered other dishes on top of the set menu (the squid ink scotch egg was phenomenal, and when the first round came out with hard boiled yolks this was spotted and immediately rectified by staff) and overall had an enjoyable time, but I would implore Cornerstone to train its staff members in how to approach customers, and perhaps in how to better explain the set menu so that customers don't feel like they're being short changed from the get go.

Was really looking forward to Cornerstone but walked away really disappointed. The food was ok, not perfect, we found all the dishes under seasoned and the John Dory was uncooked. Walked away still hungry after paying the hefty bill. Service was friendly though it did feel a bit full on at times.

Excellent food and very attentive service. This did not come as a surprise having eaten, now, at three restaurants that Tom Brown has been involved with. This experience was one of high level service in an informal atmosphere...well worth the journey from Cornwall to enjoy! We will be back.

Incredible! The food was stunning and the restaurant, service, atmosphere was all interesting and wonderful to match.

The Cornerstone is relaxed, unpretentious and very welcoming. They serve some of the best food you’ll get anywhere in London. Unquestionably one of my favourite restaurants.

The mackerel dish might just be one of the best dishes I’ve eaten in London. Order it. Don’t share it. Maybe even order two each. It’s worth it.

Love the food! Definitely come back!

Absolutely glorious. One of the nicest meals I've ever had.

Mix and match of dishes that all provided fantastic flavours. Service was attentive but informal, so a very relaxing environment to sit and watch the Chefs quietly prepare our food and have a chat at a quiet time.

Some delicious - and unusual - dishes, notably the shrimp crumpet and the rhubarb and custard tart. My two main criticisms - 1. no vegetables with main dishes and none as sides either; a very nice John Dory (enough for two but not for four as they implied) would have been much enhanced with a dollop of spinach or broccoli. 2. OTT service - helpful at first but too much with the pouring of wine and constantly interrupting conversation. Bill came to £284 for four of us, which only included one not particularly expensive bottle of wine (a delicious Picpoul).

A pleasant setting with a large

Outstanding food...the best ingredients treated with the upmost respect and skill. I'll defy you to find a better selection of fish dishes in London. Staff are super friendly, helpful and knowledgable. Cant wait to go back!

Excellent human connection between staff and customers. Not just front of house staff but chef Tom Brown himself being 100% attentive to his diners whilst running a highly efficient and respectful open kitchen. Flavours build up from light and appetising to mouthful and robust. Highly recommended for food loving people.

Everything from the service to the food, gin and music was outstanding. The Oysters were by far the best I've ever eaten. Recommend this incredible estaurant highly.

Great place. Super tasty food, the menu changes daily depending on what their suppliers provide.
A variety of small plates which are served sequentially. Not a bad dish served.
Very relaxed atmosphere with the open kitchen in the middle of the room.
Our only complaint was no sweet wine left by the time we got to dessert. Other than that, very enjoyable.

Enjoyed the whole experience, minimal decor but it is Hackney wick, the waitress was excellent and the tasting menu I would go back for again! The sea Bream (additional course) was also incredible!

Lovely place and great addition to the area - if not a little random. Love the restaurant interior and the open kitchen.
Could do with a better beer selection, only one cider and one lager on the menu.
Food is great but expensive. Will be back, but only for a special occasion.

Food quality good but alcohol is very expensive and limited choice of spirits. For a relatively new building it is cold and draughty.

Fantastic food cooked to perfection. Love the open plan approach

Michelin Star incoming for sure.

The food was delicious.

Fantastic tasting menu and some very creative dishes. Full view of the kitchen and preparation showing off the skills of the chefs perfectly. Loved the cured fish and the squid ink scotch egg. My only to our first waitress would be a little more explanation of the menu concept at the start before we started perusing the menu. Easily solved though and didn't detract from a fabulous food evening.

Interesting menu, incredible flavours, friendliest staff, with the added bonus of being seated right in front of Tom Brown (okay, so we may have hinted for this, as my friend is a superfan)! Surpassed expectations, couldn't fault a thing.

Quite possibly the best meal I’ve had in a very long time. Simple dishes with incredible flavour. The taster menu is a perfect introduction to Tom’s style of cooking. Will be back for certain.

Cornerstone Hackney has a simple clean design, with limited covers due to the central open kitchen in the middle, which means you can watch the gorgeous man himself (Tom Brown) preparing your food! 😍 The menu is a sharing fish menu, tapas style, so you order approx 6 or so dishes which are served in an appropriate order cold to hot + desserts. The staff are attentive & knowledgeable, explaining the dishes. All the food was utterly delicious, very varied, with several inspired taste sensations. HIGHLY RECOMMEND 👍 5*

Exceptional, one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. A delight from start to finish, Mr Brown has and his team have real talent. Michelin star cooking without any of the pomp.

I have booked this restaurant on my Birthday and as a seafood lovers, we have all enjoyed the food. Also, the customer service was in a high level, the waitress welcome us and took our coats. They really looked after us for the whole night. The desert came with cute 'Happy Birthday' sign. Overall, we had pretty good time and we happily will go back there soon.

Could not be more disappointed with the evening when everyone in our group had heard such wonderful reviews and read good editorials. The service and attitude was atrocious. Staff don’t listen and replied with snippy remarks and all in a hurry to get us out and closed up early by just after 10!!!
Booked b4 Christmas and the only time available was 9pm, however when arrived at 9 this is in fact the last sitting and the restaurant is winding down for the evening - packing atmosphere people and general energy for a Saturday night! The restaurant - cold, uninviting with music designed for a pub (this is no pub, definitely lack of choice on drinks, 3 mixed, no vodka).
The only main dish on offer is sold out and no substitute.
FOOD
Olives - no flavour
Bread - stale even though toasted
Oyster - very tasty but had no idea where they are from, these where the best item of the night.
Gurnard - ok
Scotched egg - ok
Broccoli- waste of money, old, stringy and tough
Potted shrimp on crumpets - flavourless except for the pepper, crumpet had the texture of a cake/muffin
Hale - ok, but could have Been made larger to substitute the lack of no monkfish.

Definitely a disappointment.

Before I posted this I wrote to Tom, I revived a very arrogance response with him looking at cctv for the evening stating we left 4min before our allotted time. Yet half the room had the chairs stacked up on tables. I assume customers have no say here. Best of luck.

Great place, very cool vibe and friendly staff. Even got a picture with Mr Tom Brown himself.
The food exceeded our expectation. We will definitely return and we will definitely high recommend to our friends / colleagues.

What a treat. Highly recommended. Each dish was like opening a Christmas cracker and discovering a continuous taste bud delight with each bang. Well done team.

Always outstanding. Perfect fish cookery showcasing British ingredients. A must visit for any fish lover.

Amazing fish and seafood. Very creative tastes and fresh produce.

Love the layout of the restaurant with the kitchen in the middle

We had an amazing time at Cornerstone.
The food was sublime and the staff were attentive and friendly.
We had the taster menu which was reasonably priced and allowed us to try lots of different dishes. Although we did order an extra Squid Ink Scotch Egg as we couldn’t resist it!!!!! We weren’t disappointed!!!!!

We visited to try a tasting menu, and we all agreed that the Mackerel pate with Treacle Bread was devine, (I would love the recipe for that pease chef) followed closely by the Broccoli with Cod Roe emulsion, which was delicious. I would definitely visit again to try some of the other dishes that we did not try on this occasion