Brooklyn Beckham has recently turned his hand to cooking and while he has received criticism in some quarters, he has certainly inspired some to get creative in the kitchen with his recipe content.
For a long time, fans have only been able to watch him in the kitchen as he demonstrates his chopping, grilling and sautéing skills, but now they can finally taste Brooklyn’s food.
For a limited time, he has launched a pop-up restaurant in partnership with Uber Eats, offering a selection of dishes from breakfast to main meals – and a few party snacks too.
But there was a catch: Uber Eats Hosts Brooklyn Beckham only delivers within a five-mile radius of Cambridge Heath – a trendy multicultural part of East London, near Bethnal Green.
Ariane Sherine tried out Brooklyn Beckham’s pop-up restaurant. Pictured is Wagyu Bolognese slow cooked for 12 hours
Now Google Maps says my house is within five miles of the pop-up tent in Brooklyn, but Uber Eats says otherwise.
So, desperate to try his fare and see if his food tastes as good as it looks, I jumped in an Uber to Cambridge Heath station and ordered the food on the way. This required me to sign up to the Uber Eats subscription service Uber One, which costs £5.99 per month.
There were just five dishes on the menu, from four different countries: chicken tikka masala (£15), buffalo cauliflower (£10), pork and prawn dumplings (£10), pasta Bolognese (£15) and an English breakfast sandwich. to Brooklyn by his grandmother (£12).
Unfortunately, on the way in the taxi, the English breakfast sandwich was sold out and taken off the menu. I’m a little baffled as to who wants a sarnie full of eggs, sausage and bacon at 6pm, but I think we’re in the East End. I quickly ordered the other four dishes for a total of £50.
However, then I had a problem: if my taxi didn’t reach the destination quickly enough, I would miss the delivery, so I urged the bewildered taxi driver to speed up. Then I texted my football-mad ex-boyfriend to let him know I was going to try Brooklyn cuisine. ‘Maybe you’ll meet David Beckham!’ he said enthusiastically.
I had to disappoint him and explain that David – and indeed Brooklyn himself – was still across the pond in America, despite launching the pop-up in East London. Unless of course David is now earning extra money as an Uber Eats delivery driver.
Buffalo cauliflower with Brooklyn’s ‘secret’ hot sauce, pictured
Chicken Tikka Masala, pictured, is also one of five items on the menu
Ariane said she didn’t want to stop eating Brooklyn’s Pork and Prawn Dumplings, pictured
The Chicken Tikka Masala is served with a naan bread, pictured
Luckily my taxi reached the station seven minutes before the food arrived – and I was shocked when it did. Instead of the usual Tupperware-style takeout containers, the food in Brooklyn was delivered in incredibly beautiful glossy black bags with woven fabric handles, featuring a glamorous logo with ‘Uber Eats Hosts Brooklyn Beckham’ in white lettering.
I felt like I had been shopping in Selfridges rather than ordering a takeaway in a slightly seedy part of the East End. As if to acknowledge that I was going out into the world, my Uber ride back home was a brand new Tesla.
I rushed back to my house and texted my adoptive grandfather to come over because I wanted to get his opinion on the dishes too. We opened the fancy black boxes on the dining room table and tucked both into each meal.
They were delivered in plastic bins – and as a climate-friendly bonus, I think all the packaging is recyclable. Grandpa estimated that the fancy packaging cost three-quarters of the meal.
Could this new venture redeem him in the eyes of the general British public, asked Ariane (pictured)
The takeaways were delivered in these lavish bags, with Ariane commenting: ‘I felt like I’d been shopping in Selfridges rather than ordering a takeaway in a slightly seedy part of the East End’
Here are our verdicts:
BUFFALO CAULIFLOWER
Firstly, the buffalo cauliflower was quite oily but extremely flavourful, with a real spicy kick. It came with a rather tart dairy dip in a separate container and was garnished with spring onions.
These were small tender cauliflower nuggets, fried in a little too much oil, that fell apart in your mouth. They reminded me of onion bhajis, although they were unexpectedly hot – the spiciness was a bit too strong for my taste buds, and I’m Asian!
Grandpa also said that the dish was too spicy for him, and that the flavor got stronger the more you ate. You didn’t get much for your money – this was definitely a ‘small plate’, more of an appetizer.
But it was also a taste explosion for your taste buds; You certainly can’t call this dish bland. Grandpa wanted to know where the buffalo was; he doesn’t really like vegetables and would have been happier if the cauliflower had been a real buffalo.
My rating: 7/10. Grandpa’s rating: 7.5/10.
CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA
The second dish was the chicken tikka masala. This was also garnished with cilantro, along with bits of bacon, on a bed of fluffy rice.
The sauce was sweet, creamy and korma-like, but a bit firm – definitely hearty fare that would stick to your ribs.
Grandpa wasn’t too keen on that and didn’t think the chicken was particularly tender, while I found the rice a bit dry.
We both agreed that we would be thrilled to receive this from an everyday curry house in East London, but it didn’t seem to justify the £15 price tag.
My rating: 7/10. Grandpa’s rating: 6.75/10.
NAANBREAD
The chicken tikka masala came with a soft naan bread, which I tried next. It was perfectly serviceable, if not remarkable.
It was sprinkled with coriander and was pleasantly tender and filling, with a little too much salt. It wasn’t anything special, but still, I honestly could have sucked down a whole plate of this – it was real comfort food.
My rating: 6.5/10. Grandpa’s rating: 6/10.
PORK AND SHRIMP DUMPS
Next up were the pork and shrimp dumplings, a kind of ‘siu mai’ for dim sum fans. They were garnished with coriander and sesame seeds and came with a tangy sesame soy sauce in a small container.
I didn’t want to stop eating them because they were so tasty and juicy, while the sauce had a wonderful taste. I love Chinese food, it’s my absolute favorite of any cuisine, and while these dumplings didn’t quite make the list of the best dim sum, they rivaled any standard Chinese takeaway. Grandpa loved them and described the filling as ‘delicious’.
My rating: 8/10. Grandpa’s rating: 9/10.
BOLOGNESE
Last but certainly not least was the pasta Bolognese – wide, thick ribbons of pasta with a sweet, slow-cooked Wagyu beef ragu with tomato, carrots and spinach.
Apparently it took 12 hours to cook and you could really tell: the meat fell apart deliciously in my mouth, the carrots were juicy and the tomato was rich.
This was my favorite of the dishes and was apparently taught to Brooklyn by his father. It came with a generous cup of Parmesan cheese. Grandpa wasn’t too impressed with this dish and thought there was too much pasta and not enough sauce.
My rating: 9/10. Grandpa’s rating: 7/10.