An evening with Chef Scully at Scully St James

Working in the hospitality industry myself, Scully is a name that comes up a lot. It is never followed with a bad or negative statement, in fact he’s one of the few chefs that is lauded with praise and compliments, not only on his food, but his character too.

It was this, alongside the reputation of the food as penned by many critics themselves, that got me super excited for the visit. It was recently mentioned in a TopJaw interview and praised for the fantastic vegetarian offering too.

On arrival, the space is warm and cosy. Shelves of fermented and pickled vegetables welcome you into the restaurant. The hero piece of the restaurant itself is the magnificent and warming open kitchen. Chef Scully is there alongside his fun, friendly, diverse and multicultural team. We were welcomed with a smile and offered our choice of tables. Apparently the critics opt for a cosy one in the corner, but alas I am not a critic and I’m far more interested in what’s going on in the kitchen, so we chose a seat at the bar, making us feel part of the kitchen banter and process.

There’s no shouting, screaming or Gordon-esque insults thrown around in this kitchen. There’s lots of laughs, interaction with guests and keen focus on the quality food coming out of said kitchen. I spot tweezers and Scully laughs that its not pretentious, in fact he’s a big towering guy, so I imagine it gives him the precision needed to create such stunning plates.

There is a tasting menu, prix fixe menus from Tuesday to Saturday, and lunch on Wednesday and Thursday. We decide to go for the A La Carte, but Scully being Scully, sends over some extra dishes for us to try throughout the evening also. We start with a cocktail, the menu is fun and diverse and it’s worth noting there are some fantastic non-alcoholic options, as well as a non-alcoholic pairing on the tasting menu too. I went for a Coconut and Chilli Mojito which was fruity and refreshing.

In the meantime we were delivered an enormous pile of Salt & Pepper Shimeji Mushrooms with yeast vinaigrette which have the moreishness of a really delicious, umami salty crisp.

For starters we were recommended a dish, of which Scully borrowed his mum’s recipe, which was Arepa with Eggplant Sambal and bergamot labneh which was outstanding. Sticky, tasty flavours with a hint of spice and warmth. We also ordered the BBQ Asparagus, as t’is the season, which was served with burned butter tzatziki and datterino cherry tomatoes – fresh and exquisitely presented on the plate.

The main dishes were exceptionally hard to choose from, as they all sounded unreal, but in the end we opted for Gurnard served with pink fur potatoes, burned butter and black bean vinaigrette. There were nice Asian flavours here due to the addition of ginger and kumquats and the fish was cooked perfectly. Alongside we chose the BBQ Onglet served with padron peppers, spring onions and Jerusalem artichokes. The topping of burned butter, taleggio and Urfa chilli made this beautiful hangar steak melt in the mouth.

I’m not the biggest dessert person, but I can’t stress enough, how much you need to try the Popping Candy Basil Pot. This is creamy gianduja Cremieux served with chocolate and hazelnut soil, banana jam and a refreshing dance of Genovese basil and lychee sorbet. It was so unbelievable, I turned to Scully and said, “you’re going to get a Michelin Star you know.” His wonderful, thundering laugh echoed around the restaurant when he jokingly replied that he wasn’t fussed about that. We also ordered the Lime Crème Brulée Tart with blood orange, rhubarb and yoghurt sorbet which was also divine.

We continued to chat to Scully throughout the evening and discovered he was born in Malaysia and has Chinese, Indian and Irish heritage! The fusion of flavours on his plates really showcases his rich heritage. You’d be a fool not to visit Scully, but be warned, you’ll be chatting the night away and might find yourselves the last people in the room like we did. Which actually isn’t a bad thing at all.

Find out more > www.scullyrestaurant.com