Allegra is an exquisite modern European restaurant on the 7th floor of The Stratford Hotel. Since the Olympics in 2012, a side of Stratford, now called Stratford City, has been well in the process of gentrification. The Stratford is undoubtedly one of the pillars of this process and Allegra is currently the pinnacle.
Before I continue, I should state that I’m a proud resident of Stratford so please forgive any perceived bias.
Allegra is very beautiful. Every detail in its contemporary elegant decor has been carefully considered and executed. The service is also really good… very friendly, helpful, and relaxed. Now the food.
To be frank, the a la carte menu is fairly limited and can be accused of being a tad pretentious, but this is on par for a restaurant of its ilk.
Snacks
This is usually a very good indication of how good the rest of the food is going to be… and it was absolutely delicious. Particularly the soft creamy salted butter.
I wasn’t a fan of this at all. The liver parfait was too rich and sweet. Not to my taste.
Starters
Ohh, this was gorgeous. The boneless chicken wings were incredibly succulent and packed with subtle but delicious flavour. The Parmesan dumplings were scrumptious too.
This was delicious as well. Really lovely pastry and the filling was creamy and tasty with a fairly mild eel flavour.
Main
We had the whole roast cep-stuffed chicken to share. The chicken is first presented to you whole, mostly to admire and probably take pictures, and then it’s taken away to be prepared into two dishes.
The chicken was incredibly succulent and steeped in rich flavour. Shiima wasn’t the biggest fan of the cep which was stuffed underneath the skin but I enjoyed it.
Shiima didn’t have this because it appears wrapped in bacon. I devoured them, and they were okay.
Dessert
I loved this. I love custard, salted caramel, and ginger cakes so there was little chance I wouldn’t enjoy this. A couple suggestions though… the ginger cake would be better warm, and a BIGGER PORTION!☺️
We did not like this. We didn’t even eat half of it and we both have several sweet teeth.
Verdict
We really enjoyed our dinner at Allegra. It’s simply exquisite. From the décor, to the service, to the somewhat pretentious food. It’s everything you’d expect from an opulent Modern European restaurant in Mayfair. We recommend for dates, special occasions, and large group celebrations where cost isn’t a concern. Speaking of cost, Allegra is expensive.
Cuisine: Modern European
Dress Code: Smart Casual
Shiima’s Star Dish: Confit Chicken Wing
Amen’s Star Dish: Salted caramel custard & ginger cake
Price: Over £50pp
Rating: 5 out of 5
Allegra
The Stratford
20 International Way,
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park,
London, E20 1FD
Reserve at OpenTable,
Or call 0203 973 0545
