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Chef Dominic Taylor, winner of Five Star Kitchen: Britain’s Next Great Chef launched his first first restaurant, The Good Front Room in early 2026. Located at the address previously known Mildred’s – a well-loved vegetarian restaurant, we are curious to understand how Dominic Taylor is settling in to his new space in Dalston.
The Good Front Room
Named after a play on the traditional “best room” reserved only for visiting guests in many Caribbean homes, the dining experience at The Good Front Room draws heavily on Caribbean influences from the chef’s family heritage.
Dom, raised in London by a Jamaican mother and Saint-Lucian father, learned how to cook Caribbean staples at a young age from the elder women in his family, understanding that food was not only a means of nourishment, but also a way to create happiness, and bring people together. As a grandchild of the Windrush generation, Dom says he feels “a responsibility to carry the torch and keep our stories, recipes, and traditions alive. Doing this now feels like the right moment to build something entirely my own, rooted in where I come from and led with intention.”
Occupying the ground floor of Thomas Tower, right next to Dalston Junction station, the 80-cover restaurant has retained familiarity and some previous interior design elements from its previous incarnation. Newly added in the bathrooms, visitors will notice walls adorned with photos of famous, celebrated people from black British communities – it is worth taking a moment to recognise their contributions.
What’s on the menu?
We visited on a Friday. The evening menu is straight forward, it’s a fixed £85 per person (for 3 courses), noting this price is reduced if the booking is for dinner before 6:30pm.
Diners receive 4 starters to share, which come out as they are ready.
- Gungo (or Turtle Bean) Pea Daal – served with roti, coconut crema and pomegranate molasses
- Jackfruit Tempura served with picked ginger, whipped avocado and lemongrass dressing
- Ackee + Saltfish Cake served with a Scotch Bonnet aioli, charred pineapple and heirloom tomato chow
- Smoked jerk chicken served with plantain crisps and jam, and roasted sweetcorn
The Pea Daal, FLAVOURFUL. The Jackfruit tempura, GREED-INDUCING. The Ackee + Saltfish cake, STUNNING. The Jerk chicken, MOREISH!
Selecting a main course each, we had the (vegetarian) Crispy Banana Blossom Coconut Curry and the Rum & Raisin Glazed Pork Belly, served with charred Hispi cabbage. The curry was good, but lacked a wow factor. On the other hand, the pork belly will make diners drool with food envy if not chosen – the latter we highly recommend.
Alongside the mains, are 4 sides to share for the table, which are a chunky slaw, fresh coconut rise and peas, glazed plantain (with maple, lime and chilli), and back mac and cheese.
There is room for dessert – a fact, not a question to be considered at this point in the evening. We opted for Nan’s apple crumble with vanilla bean ice cream and custard, and the sweet potato sticky toffee pudding with sea-salted toffee sauce. The crumble left no crumbs, reminiscent of family home cooking, but the sweet potato sticky toffee pudding didn’t quite hit the nostalgic need of the dense, date-rich goo from our childhood.
To drink, The Good Front Room offers four signature cocktails, with non-alcoholic options as well as beers and spirits. Of the cocktails, we recommend the Tropical Storm (a blend of vodka, tamarind syrup, fermented pineapple juice, lime, ginger beer and ginger bitters) with £1 from the sale of each being donated to support Jamaica’s Hurricane Relief Fund, or a nostalgia-inducing Sweet Me (mixed with dark rum, lime, guava juice and pimento syrup). We noted that the bar ran out of a couple of ingredients part-way through the evening, so there is still some stock-planning adjustments as the new restaurant settles into its routine.
The service
The Good Front Room strongly encourages slowing down from the usual London pace – cocktails and food arrived in a relaxed manner. Equally there is no rush to finish or leave by a set time, in complete contrast to the typical 90-minute turn-around of so many London restaurants.
Staff service was generally professional and friendly, albeit some endearing behaviour did verge towards annoying at one point.
Overall thoughts
The Good Front Room has a relaxed vibe; being forced to slow down was a noticeable but welcome contrast to the working week.
Much like having visitors at home, the menu approach from The Good Front Room means guests are there to eat (and enjoy!) the set menu that the chef has chosen to prepare. On first glance, portion sizes do not appear exceptionally generous, but considering the number of included starters and sides along with the main course, no diner will go home feeling hungry. The menu is designed to allow couples or groups to relax, but we would happily drop in mid-afternoon for a portion of smoked jerk chicken, pork belly and a Sweet Me cocktail alone, if the restaurant would have us back!
More information
The Good Front Room is located at 1 Thomas Tower, Dalston Square, London, E8 3GU
For more information or to book, visit thegoodfrontroom.co.uk.
