Darkhorse

Darkhorse is a Northern Italian restaurant on Stratford High Street rated 4.6 stars on Google from over 329 reviews and described by food writers as one of the best restaurants in Stratford. The setting is an atmospheric industrial space that provides an interesting contrast to the refined Northern Italian cooking emerging from the kitchen, where chef carefully sources ingredients from quality British and Italian producers.

The menu showcases Northern Italian cooking with ambition and skill: squid ink arancini with lime and saffron mayonnaise, Bertha-roasted Black pig chop with buttered Brussels tops and romesco sauce, roast fillet of Cornish brill with roasted leeks, new potatoes and mussel saffron cream. Desserts include affogato (vanilla ice cream with espresso) and Bertha-roasted banana with coconut ice cream and amaretto crumb. The "Bertha" refers to the restaurant's charcoal oven, a key piece of equipment that imparts a distinctive smokiness to many of the dishes. Booking recommended.