LIFESTYLE: Gilgamesh, Camden
Thursday, 28 January 2016
I've mentioned Gilgamesh on here a couple of times in the past because it has been one of my favourite restaurants the past 4 or 5 years - so when an email popped into my inbox to come along and try the set menu I was more than a little excited!
I first when to Gilgamesh with my family when I was about 18. We were back again the week after and soon enough my parents decided they liked it so much that they booked my brothers Bar Mitzvah there. Since then it has become one of those special occasion places that we love to visit! I thought I'd bring Georgia along with me as its only fair - she has never been before so I thought it would be a nice treat for her too.
At the entrance of Camden market, just before the bridge, the venue itself is unlike any other restaurant in London. You go up a mysterious escalator in the middle of the street to discover a massive space at the top. It has a very beachy sunset vibe with dimmed red lights, palm trees and amazing wooden carving in everything from the bar, to the table and chairs. You could easily forget you're still in London.
We were treated to a pretty amazing table, a large round one that seated the group of seven next to us. From there we had an amazing view of the whole restaurant which for a people watcher like me was absolutely amazing.
As per usual, we started off with a cocktail each - a belini to toast to Georgia starting her new internship and of course they were delicious. We loved the pretty ornate glasses they came in too! While we got through them, we perused the £55 set menu.
I love taking Georgia along on my reviews! Not only is she great company, but it's also a great way to see how well a restaurant deals with a gluten free customer. Let me tell you, Gilgamesh have that one covered. They went above and beyond for her and I was really impressed. She called up beforehand to see how they go about it all and they said if we let them know which main she wanted, they'd make sure not to marinate it so that's what we did! When we arrived though, they sorted out her starters with the sauce separate and her very own gluten free soy sauce as well, I didn't even know that stuff existed.
The food was as good as I remembered. There were a few dishes on the set menu that'd I'd tried before like the duck and watermelon salad and a couple of new ones too. The salad was so refreshing and delicious with chunks of watermelon, shredded hoisin duck, pomegranate seeds and cashews.
We had a bowl of edemame beans which are always a good call for the two of us and the most incredible salmon sashimi, I've never seen such thick, luscious pieces of salmon. It came from a whole separate sushi bar area of the resturant.
And on top of all of that, there were prawn spring rolls which were thin and crispy tubes stuffed with the biggest juiciest giant prawns.
After another cocktail, it was time for the main course! We both went for salmon (Georgias without the sauce) which came with fragrant, fluffy coconut rice and pak choi - all perfectly cooked. We also ordered a side of chinese mushrooms which we were fighting over because they were so good.
Dessert arrived and disappeared within seconds so I don't have any photos - sorry. Georgia went for three scoops of sorbet since she couldn't handle a proper dessert after all that food haha. I had a burnt milk panna cotta which is a dessert I haven't really had before! It came all pretty on a plate with red sauce, berries and bits of ripped up pistachio cake plus a scoop of lime sorbet. The panna cotta was dense and delicious, I really enjoyed it! I was also glad to have the sorbet because it was sharp and cleansing which is just what you need after a big meal.
Obviously, we finished off the evening with another cocktails and a little bit more people watching from our amazing table. We spend a good two and a half hours in there and the time absolutely flew by, we would have happily stayed a few more hours if it wasn't a Thursday and I was on the wrong side of London.
I really do count this place as one of my favourite in London and I definitely recommend you visit if you get a chance!
