We never order the chicken when we go out, but Tramshed’s roast is legendary in these parts. This juicy bird encased in a crackling of crispy fat is pure homey indulgence.
The chefs soak it in their own secret herby sauce for hours on end before slowing cooking it rotisserie style – it really isn’t your average roast chicken. Not by a long shot. Oh, and did we mention the stuffing? The simple sage and onion filling is exactly what you need to soak up all the homemade gravy and leftover juices.
By the end of the meal, my friend and I were fighting over the bones, sucking off any last remanence of meat we could find. And, to our amazement, they even let us take the carcass home with a Mark Hix recipe showing us how to make a mean chicken broth, helping reduce food waste.
The whole roast chicken is such a simple dish but, when done this well, few things compare. And that pretty much sums up the whole Tramshed experience. The food isn’t over-worked. They haven’t tried to reinvent or modernise quintessentially British dishes.
Instead, they just perfect the traditional – maintaining their homey essence while upgrading it with a whole heap of flavour. And their high-quality standards of sourcing produce help lift it all up even further.
You’ll feel the nostalgia that comes from eating the perfect cherry pie covered in either cream, ice cream or custard (homemade, of course). It’s as if you’re back at your nanna’s house as a child, delighting in something so comforting.
All of this comes within the expansive Tramshed space full of artwork – most famously the Cock and Bull installation by Damian Hurst – Mark Hix’s personal friend. That’s the rooster sitting on top of a cow, within a tank of water (we’re sure you’ve seen it all over Instagram). It perfectly reflects the beef and chicken-heavy menu. But the artwork doesn’t begin and end there. It’s placed all over the restaurant.
They even have their own art gallery located underneath it all, showing regular exhibitions and the all too impressive Mark Hix Art Prize for young artists.
And while we’re all about indulging in the dinner life at Tramshed, taking in the upbeat vibes, we can’t turn our nose up at their lunchtime offers either.
Grabbing a sit-down lunch in Shoreditch or the City can usually set you back a lot, but these guys are part of the push to get people dining out in the middle of the day. For £9.75 (the same as a few Sainsbury’s meal deals) you get two hearty courses of food. But we also love to indulge in their epic steak options for lunch – especially those made to be shared.
You’ll be spending a lot on these (as all their beef is 28-day aged in a Himalayan salt chamber and comes from Shorthorn, Hereford and Aberdeen Angus breeds) but it is so worth it.
Wash it all down with a few glasses of red (we’d opt for the juicy Valpolicella any day of the week) and some cocktails. They’ve created a super long list of seasonal cocktails here, and it would be an absolute shame to miss out on either starting or finishing your meal with a few.
Basically, you can easily treat yourself for a really reasonable price here. Or you and your guests can just go all out, ordering the whole roast chicken (did we mention how in love we are with the roast chicken?), a steak to share, the truffle macaroni and cheese, some beef and chicken croquettes, and a bunch of British desserts.
This is the kind of place you’ll want to be rolled out of, having stuffed yourself with all manner of hearty British cooking.
32 Rivington Street EC2A 3LX
