Chiringuito Review: Bottomless Brunch In A Cute Glass Cube In Bethnal Green

Bottomless brunch at Chinringuito ★★★☆☆

Will Noble
By Will Noble Last edited 60 months ago

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Chiringuito Review: Bottomless Brunch In A Cute Glass Cube In Bethnal Green Bottomless brunch at Chinringuito 3

A 'chiringuito', apparently, is a Spanish establishment peddling drinks, tapas and small plates — often in a temporary structure. We hope this Chiringuito isn't going anywhere fast, because we like it a lot. Sparkling Saturday morning light spills through the cute glass cube, perched by Bethnal Green tube station, inhabited by smoothie-slurping joggers and tourists en route to a nostalgia fix at the Museum of Childhood.

Animated yet relaxed; yummy mummy but not unbearably so, it's the kind of place you can imagine Rob and Sharon from Catastrophe having some ding-dong about oral sex, over a charcoal coffee.

Chiringuito's breakfast menu is a cornucopia of nouveau east London cuisine (granola, yoghurt, avo), peppered with Spanish favourites, like the pan con tomate (it's excellent). Assuming you're allowing yourself a gut-busting weekend treat, you'll invariably opt for one of their big Spanglish breakfasts. This, we do, and don't regret it: the plate heaves with succulent chorizo and poached eggs, and a side of Mediterranean-style beans that ensures you aren't left wanting. The vegetarian option is almost as good, served with salty slabs of halloumi and (not quite seasoned-enough) chorizo.

The 'bottomless' aspect of brunch needs a little work. 90 minutes, it seems, is the new 120 minutes; and while we won't harp on about that, our bloody mary is all citrus, little spice; the frozen margaritas are semi-frozen at best, and the passionfruit puree in the bellinis ends up being subbed out for strawberry. No major drama in any of these — plus the more people who go bottomless, the slicker we're sure this operation will become. But these brunches don't come cheap, so you do notice these things.

Speaking of which, there's some confusion with the bottomless menu's phrasing: '£25 with any breakfast order' can be read in more ways than one. We're soon after informed brunch will come to £30. So when the bill winds up £36 + service* we do a double take. For that kind of cash, you really need to be in the same bottomless league as Hotbox or Jinjuu.

Chiringuito, Museum Gardens, Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, E2 9PA

*Our meal was partially comped, but this is what you'll pay for a bottomless brunch with an £11 breakfast

Last Updated 28 March 2019