Camden’s Gilgamesh is known amongst certain circles as a ‘cool’ place to be. The last time Tasting Britain’s cofounder ate there, ex Spice Girl Emma Bunton was dining on the adjacent table. The day after I was there, Snoop Dogg was due for a visit. I guess the Jeroboams of Cristal Champagne at £3000 a pop(!) suggest that they are used to catering to a rather wealthy clientele. This is not something you would expect in Camden’s Chalk Farm Market, which is on the whole, much more down to earth and not a place for flash bastards to strut around.
That said, Gilgamesh are not just ‘style without substance’ – they do Pan Asian cuisine in a very inventive manner (as in I ate stuff I hadn’t;t had before and quite enjoyed it). They also have a pretty mighty drinks list and their atmosphere is probably the best I have experienced in years. The decor is fkn amazing – kinda faux Indian/Persian/Mesopotamian/make it up as you go along – lots of it hand carved too!
We were invited down to try their Christmas Set Menu – I think I remember their PR telling me that we were some of the first food writers invited down for a review in quite some time. All in all, I’d say I was pretty impressed, and would like to come back with a tripod to do a proper venue shoot – they’ve got lounges and a club area that I didn’t even get the chance to see. The Vesper Martini was exactly how it should be. Good stuff, Gilgamesh.