Tuyo is the effortlessly cool new eatery delivering innovative flavour combos and stylish plating within a laid-back, Insta-friendly setting
Words Helen Brown
For east London’s fashionably attired food-lovers, Broadway Market makes for the perfect stomping ground. Awash with trendy eateries, quaint cafés and cosy pubs, it’s the foodie’s weekend hangout of choice. Strikingly cool, new tapas bar Tuyo fits the Broadway Market mould perfectly. At the helm is ex-Salt Yard chef Ricardo Pimental who offers up a wonderfully eclectic collection of cuisines from across the globe. On offer is a menu of tapas-esque dishes to pick at and share.
My dinner companion is late so I busy myself with the gin menu. A huge, icy goblet of Gin Mare with tonic, lemon and rosemary arrives before he does; I take the opportunity to scope out the surroundings while I sip. A bustling open-kitchen affords a front-row view into the chefs preparing each perfect plate, the seating is casual, the walls whitewashed and the ceilings hanging with baskets of verdant greenery. My friends arrives at last with tales of late trains and a rogue Uber driver and we get stuck into the menu’s selection of pintxos and bite-sized snacks. The ox-tail croquettes come highly recommended by our waiter and get things off to a flying start. The mushroom ali-oli makes these incredible moreish; they disappear within seconds. The menu crescendos into larger dishes such as duck and figs on a bed of bulgur wheat, cocooned with creamy and comforting carrot puree. This too vanishes within minutes of it landing on the table. We go for seven dishes in total, two of which derive from the vegetable section. The halloumi with beetroot comes with a tangy balsamic dressing, hazelnuts for satisfying crunch and orange segments to round things off with a fruity finish. The artichokes are a star of the show for us; chargrilled and oily, they work as a soft, buttery vehicle to carry the piquant flavours of parmesan and feta, with soya beans adding pops of freshness. The salmon is undoubtedly the prettiest plate to arrive; strawberries and raspberries are dotted between wedges of beetroot, chunks of salmon and adorned with micro-herbs. Much to our surprise, this is not a case of style over substance. Swirls of yoghurt work to marry the bright berry notes with the richness of the salmon.
With little to no room on the table or in our stomachs, the lamb tagine arrives. For me this is the best plate of the evening and I despair at being so full. The lamb falls apart in its rich and warming tagine sauce, while plump prunes and apricots deliver the sweet notes notorious in Moroccan cuisine. Reluctant to part with the leftover tagine, we leave with it in a takeaway bag and vow to be back again with roaring appetites and room for dessert.
