From crab croquettes to a bacon bap, here are the best things the CODE team ate in 2021

And there we have it, another year is coming to its conclusion. In a year unlike any other, the CODE team have reflected on their favourite dishes.

Aunty Mo’s ‘Chatti’ Roast – Kolamba

Forever indecisive when it comes to choosing my favourite anything, I thought I was going to really struggle with this. Then I remembered dinner at Kolamba and their Aunty Mo’s ‘Chatti’ Roast. It was back in July, on a warm Friday evening and we managed to bag table for two outside. Both equally ignorant about Sri Lankan food, we relied on a little help from the friendly Sri Lankan couple at the table next to us to find our way around the menu. The ‘Chatti’ Roast is one of the small plates consisting of a bed of steamed string hoppers topped with beef – dry fried so it’s a little crisp in parts but still tender – with a silky, coconut and tumeric sauce on the side to pour over. As I said, I’m no expert when it comes to Sri Lankan cooking so it’s hard to fully do the dish justice in an explaination. Instead, I implore you to get booked in and try it for yourselves.
Molly Wade, memberships manager

Canapé Selection – Oxeye

Choosing my stand-out dish of the year was actually very easy. I went for the dish that I first thought of, the magnificent canapé selection at Oxeye. Sven-Hanson Britt and team have put together a showstopping selection of canapés that begins dinner on a perfect note. From squid, bergamot and shiso, to Cornish Yarg churros with fresh nettles, this celebration of British food is truly impressive. After a tour of the spectacular space, I can’t help but feel that Sven is Willy Wonka, Oxeye is his chocolate factory, and I’m… erm… Charlie I guess?
Henry Southan, editorial intern

Crab Croquettes – Isshno-Ni

Isshno-Ni is a buzzy little neighbourhood joint in trendy Bethnal Green serving comforting, accessible Japanese food. In a landscape of ‘fusion’ dishes and ‘concepts’, IsshoNi takes things back to basics with great ingredients, great service and perhaps most importantly; very tasty food. The highlight of a delicious menu showcase was the crab croquettes, not a traditional Japanese dish by any means – but with owner Claire’s love of Barrafina – this creamy, crunchy, crabby little number is her homage to that stalwart of London dining. Sweet, succulent crab, a little truffled mayo, lemon – it’s crave-able, moreish and the epitome of a ‘Best Bite’.
Mike Daw, partnerships manager

Bacon Bap – Chiswick Garden Café

My dish of the year is a simple one. Through the lockdowns and social isolation that dominated for too long, the bacon bap from Colicci-run Chiswick Garden Café never failed to put a smile on my face. For five minutes you could sit on a park bench with a soft brioche bun packed with HG Walter bacon and be transported to a happier place. On one occasion the dog was sneaky enough to steal a stray piece of bacon – you could hardly blame him.
Will Lake, COO

Chilled Courgette Soup, Parmesan & Basil – The Clove Club

Copping-out on choosing my best bite of 2021, I chose this meal because of more than just the food. It wasn’t long after we were first allowed to dine out again and it was a gloriously sunny summer’s day in East London. I’d just started at CODE and was taking my partner out for his birthday, having spent his 30th locked inside. Greeted at the entrance of the bright and breezy dining room inside Shoreditch Town Hall, we felt a wash of reassurance that we could leave the world and its problems outside. Every plate was presented with elegance, flourish and infectious charm with each morsel of Chef Isaac McHale’s tasting menu sending us into rhapsody. It felt like we were precisely where we were supposed to be at that moment, everything in its right place at last.
Sam Selwood, accounts manager

Alsace bacon jam on a chicken skin cracker – Bastion, Kinsale

2021 was the year that jam made. Instead of the butter salt dash of toast on the run, weeks were started and finished with the crackling of empty jars. There were two unforgettable experiences: the first was green tomato jam bought from the market in Dinard, the stuff of hallucinations. The second was an accident — an impromptu trip to Waterford stopped us overnight in Kinsale, a sailing town on the West coast of Ireland. The gift of Bastion was an early sitting on Friday evening with an eight-course set menu and wines to match. Yet the pinnacle of gluttony was one of the snacks – Alsace bacon jam on a chicken skin cracker. I seldom remember enjoying a thing so much, it was unctuous and light, coming away in the mouth in elegant parts. I immediately begged for more. Like all perfect things that were not meant to last, it is no longer on the menu. But I have a secret, because the chef came out and told me how it was made. This is the making of great family recipes…
Céire Carey, team assistant

Confit chicken with white bean puree – The Camberwell Arms

My dish of the year is actually a medley of dishes at The Camberwell Arms. I can’t remember a time when the spell of a beautiful meal hasn’t been broken by a take-it-or-leave-it dish. The cooking is detailed and thoughtful in a way that’s disguised by the rustic simplicity of the menu: confit chicken with a silky white bean puree was textural nirvana; barbecued pork neck was balanced beguilingly with black rice, raisins and pine nuts. The sides, too, were stars: green beans bathed in brown butter yoghurt and a luscious pile of butterhead lettuce laced with apricot vinaigrette, dredged in ricotta salata. The dining room is sparse but warmly lit – like a cross between the old Emile of Curtain Road and St. JOHN – and that night it was full of friends, couples, families, old and young, happily enchanted by this wonderful place.
Chloe Hamilton, content manager

Read more reviews from the CODE team here