Restaurant Review: Eden, Princes Avenue

A horror story took place Saturday October 31st, 2020. 

Hull was about to be plunged into the new Covid-19 tiering system, and it was the last night before the City's pubs and restaurants had to close for many months. There was a bottomless Halloween brunch... things got messy. More cocktails than brunch food was consumed. There may have been green vomit (not mine thankfully!).

The scene of this ghastly atrocity was Lucca, a trendy if somewhat inauthentic Italian restaurant on Princes Avenue. We'd had a great few hours, loads of fun, but didn't really pay much attention to the food being served between all the cocktails on offer!

Fast forward to January 2022... we're all triple vaxxed and several covid variants and Downing Street party revelations older.  And somewhere in between the craziness of lockdowns and tiers and scotch eggs counting as a substantial meal, Lucca had a botanical makeover and became Eden.

We'd noticed the transformation from the slick black building to a forest green facade, complete with added foliage, but the menu we'd seen hadn't really encouraged us to try it just yet. I personally felt you could get a lot of the dishes on the menu from elsewhere in Hull, and it looked kind of pricey? Like not that pricey but a bit more than say one of the Old Town pubs. 

But last week the restaurant announced it was doing an offer for up to £10 off each meal (remember 'eat out to help out'? *shudder*) so we decided to give it a try.

The lesser spotted Charis with lippie and lashes (glass of wine not unusual)

 

My first thoughts on entering the restaurant was that the waiting staff seemed welcoming, though they sat us down before asking who the booking was for and I later got a telling off from the booking app for not turning up to our table! 

The decor was nice and I really liked the floral and plant theme. It was nicely lit, with trendy neon signs and bottles decorating the ceiling.

To drink, we opted for a bottle of White Zinfandel rose (£20) which was very drinkable (oh yes, it's like 2020 all over again!) and ordered our food.

There was a nice selection of dishes to choose from on the menu, with options such as belly pork with black pudding mash, duck, with a cherry sauce and a classically cooked fish of the day. There was also a wide selection of steaks, but not a lot at all for veggies or vegans, with only one risotto with a 'v' sign on it for the main. 

We opted to share the baked camembert starter (£10.95), and I ordered the fish and chips (£14.95) while Jono ordered the brisket burger (£12.95). 

Jono couldn't wait to get started 

After a short wait (I guess they had to bake it!) the cheese arrived and what can I say, it was completely delicious! It was baked to gooey perfection and infused with garlic and thyme, served with focaccia bread drizzled in pesto and served with red onion chutney and a salad of rocket and toasted pine nuts. Honestly it was a 10/10 for cheese lovers!

The restaurant was quite busy and we had another short wait for our mains, where we finished off our wine (what can I say, it's been a long January!)

We ordered some more rose and our mains soon came.

My fish and chips were lovely. The cod was fresh and really nicely cooked, with light crispy batter and a few sweet pickled onions on top. That sat atop home cooked chips, on a bed of pea puree, and there were three delicious battered prawns on the side, as well as tartare and curry sauces. The curry sauce tasted homemade and was a bit thinner than the traditional chip shop stuff,  but the taste was amazing and the tangy fragrances and gentle spice leant itself really well with the deep-fried elements of the dish. 

Fancy fish and chips 

Jono enjoyed his burger and chips, saying the burger was really tasty and the bacon was nice, as was the generous amount of cheese on it. 

When it was time for the dessert menu, we were sadly way too full! Though we did overhear a lemon cheesecake, passionfruit posset and chocolate brownie were on the cards for a nearby table.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend Eden for a visit, the atmosphere was really nice and friendly, and although there were a couple of service mishaps, the staff were friendly and attentive. 

Brisket Burger, plenty of cheese!

If I owned/managed Eden I'd possibly just add a couple more veggie or vegan dishes to the menu just so there's a better choice there for non meat-eaters, who might struggle with the lack of choice at both starter and main level.

Next time though, I'm ordering the camembert starter again and leaving some room for dessert!