Test Driving Tempo, a thrilling new restaurant to check out in Bethnal Green

Ready for service at Tempo in Bethnal Green

What can you tell us about Tempo?

Word reached us before Christmas of a new wave Asian restaurant over in Bethnal Green that should really be on our radar. The first point of interest was the chef involved. Eric Wan was formerly at Dinner by Heston and, more recently, had been popping up all over town with his highly-regarded Vietnamese supperclub Lá Lốt. The restaurant's founder was Dan Long. He's the Dan behind the stupidly popular Dan's wine bar in Dalston.

The pair had then roped in an almost unseemly amount of restaurant talent with front of house staff from Dorian and Noble Rot and chefs who'd worked at Singburi. So it's fair to say that the team involved should know what they're doing.

Where is it exactly?

You'll find it on Paradise Row, right beside Bethnal Green tube station.

And where's good to meet friends for a drink first?

Well, biker cocktail bar All My Gods is right next door if that's your thing. Otherwise, there's one of the best bars in the country, Satan's Whiskers, just a few minutes' walk away.

What sort of place is it?

If you've been to any restaurant or bar down Paradise Row in the past few years, you'll know the kind of pared-back, railway arches vibe we're talking about. Here, there's an open kitchen; we sat up at the counter and enjoyed seeing everything going on in the kitchen. But there are a load of tables in the restaurant itself if you don't want to do counter seating, or are with a group.

The dining room and counter seats at Tempo

As for the food, Eric describes it as drawing on his own Chinese/Vietnamese roots with a menu that follows the current London diktat of snacks, small and large plates.

Here's what we tried to give you an idea of what to expect. First, from the snacks section:

Braised aubergine on whipped tofu with spiced tomato and a bowl of wonton crisps (£10) - this dish really set the scene for what was to come, being beautifully balanced in terms of flavour and texture. Is there an aubergine dish out there we don't like? We don't seem to have found one yet.

Silken egg (£11) - an absolute umami bomb of a dish with brown crab, shiitake XO sauce and a smattering of trout roe to top it all off.

From the small plates section:

Shrimp toast (£13) - we are loving all the modern takes on prawn toast we're seeing on London menus at the moment. Here at Tempo, Eric starts with a shrimp mousse that's spread between slices of bread and fried until crisp and golden. It’s finished with a bright, spicy green chilli sauce and garnished with micro shiso and pickled daikon.

Grilled chicken skewers with lemongrass Sa Tế chilli oil, roasted onions and sweet basil (£12).

Then onto the larger plates...

Delica squash curry (£19) - incidentally vegan, but 100% delicious, this featured shimeji mushrooms, coconut milk and galangal. We had ours with perfect accompaniment of coconut cream jasmine rice (£4.50)

Beef onglet (£24) - that fiery red chilli relish really pepped this dish up, but it wasn't enough to beat the squash curry for top billing.

If you're a texture nut, we'd also push you in the direction of the bánh hỏi, which here were served with scallion oil. They're like a noodle wrap roll and extremely moreish.

The must-try bánh hỏi

Room for dessert?

Even if there isn't, you'll need to make room for what we're calling out as the best madelines in London right now, and given the competitive market, that's a hard title to win.

We'd been watching chef Eric ladle unseemly amounts of hot honey butter over these right before serving. God, they were good. (£9) And the fact that they come with Chantilly cream rather than creme fraiche gets them bonus points.

Presumably, the wine is good here too?

It's a very good list, presided over by Dan and Isobel McFadden (ex-Noble Rot, Dorian and Chin Chin Sydney). Top picks by the glass on the night included a 2024 Domaine Gross Tryo (yes, that's named for 'try orange wine'), which was an exceptionally likeable orange, and a delicious glass of Pierre Peters Champagne at £15. That said, they also do some impressive low/no alcohol cocktails and wines too, so non-drinkers are well looked after.

Overall thoughts:

If you've been waiting for somewhere to break Dry January, then this wine-forward, new-wave restaurant in East London couldn't be a better bet. The food is thrillingly good, and the wine offering is on a par with some of the best places in town, but at Bethnal Green prices. This opening sets the bar for 2026 very high.