Quirky London Eateries!

In this city 300 languages are spoken and the people that speak them live side by side in harmony. This city typifies what I believe is the future of the human race and a future where we grow together and we share and we learn from each other.

Ken Livingstone

I don’t know if it’s something to do with some of the travel restrictions being lifted but, for the first time in a long time, I’ve noticed a distinctly touristy feel about the capital over the last few weeks! It’s been lovely to see many bars and restaurants buzzing with that almost holiday feel – I didn’t realise just how much I’d missed the vibe. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned many times before, I’m a total foody, I love cooking, I love eating and I love going out to eat! The image of the UK as a culinary desert has long since gone, especially here in the capital. In this melting pot of culinary traditions and recipes you really are spoiled for choice to the point that several restaurants have introduced some quite quirky but ultimately entertaining distractions! Here’s a few of my favourites;

Archipelago – Fitzrovia

Exotic food seldom seen on most menus is the draw at this slightly eccentric spot just down from Warren Street. The decor - a mismatched mix of fertility idols, giant peacock feathers, golden Buddhas and intimidating masks - is perhaps as adventurous as the food. There's certainly a lot to look at!

The unconventional food features marinated kangaroo skewers, jerked alpaca, crispy zebra jerky, pan-fried crickets and crocodile wrapped in vine leaves with honey-poached plums and pickled samphire. Mexican pork belly, a chicken massaman curry and Berber spiced lamb are, believe it or not, some of the more conventional choices!

Bike Shed Motorcycle Club – Old Street

With more than 10,000-square feet of restaurant, lounge, shop and event space, the Bike Shed is hidden in plain sight under the railway bridge at the end of Old Street, where it joins Shoreditch High Street. There's a walk-in entrance at one end and a private road at the other, for summertime al-fresco dining, coffee and motorcycle and bicycle parking. There's also a proper barbers! This trendy biker café serves up a hearty menu, from beefburgers to pulled pork in a brioche bun. For the veggies, there are plenty of options, like mac and cheese or a superfood salad. Grab a seat in one of the red leather booths and take in the faint smell of engine oil, or browse the choppers parked outside.

Bob Bob Ricard – Soho

The only way is Excess at this one-of-a-kind restaurant that’s perfect for off-duty fun. On the menu: British and Russian comfort food, plus lots of Champagne! It’s immediately unusual: it’s a Soho restaurant that takes bookings. But there’s more – its art deco interiors are so lavishly decorated that you feel like you’re on a James Bond film set. And on top of that, there’s a special champagne button by each table that can be used to summon up fizz. Just don’t nudge it by mistake! While you’re in, grab a chaser of celebrated dessert wine Château d’Yquem. It’s expensive, an eye watering £36.50, but Bob Bob Ricard is the only UK restaurant officially endorsed to sell it by the glass.

Bunga Bunga – Covent Garden

An outrageous party-time homage to Silvio Berlusconi, Bunga Bunga is big, brash, brassy and enormous fun! If you’re planning to eat, come with a sizeable group, sit in the crowd-pleasing brasserie (Bungatini) and get stuck into the trattoria menu before heading downstairs to Bunga Bunga proper for cabaret and burlesque. The pizzas here are to die for – and they’re served by the metre! Check out the just-as-quirky branch in Battersea, too. Not for the faint hearted!

Champor-Champor – London Bridge

With the Shard springing up nearby, it’s no longer off the beaten path, yet still feels like a hidden find. In Malay, “Champor-Champor” means “mix and match”, and it’s a fitting name for both the interior and the menu. The walls are painted in vibrant shades and hung with colourful masks, and there’s carved teak galore, plus winking candles and acres of Thai silk. The place exudes a yogic calm.

The cooking is described as “Thai-Malay”, but influences reach beyond this south-east Asian peninsula, unashamedly fusing East and West with the likes of gruyere cheese and lime with river prawns, served with wasabi-spiked potato salad. What could end up being a backpackerish mash-up is sophisticated and creative. Fish dishes are well rendered, as in a main course of Malaysian-style red snapper; the fillets halved and served atop twin pools of arse kicking-hot sambal sauce!

Circus – Covent Garden

Despite the name, the entertainment here comes not from clowns in collapsible cars or daring young men on the flying trapeze but from a new breed of cabaret acts: the long banquet table doubles as a catwalk-cum-stage for fire-eaters, burlesque acts and dancers.

The food is pan-Asian, with dishes ranging from sushi and sashimi, dim sum, tempura and som tam salads to mains of miso black cod, baby chicken with white miso, truffle, lotus root, spinach and teriyaki, and Chilean sea bass with chilli, black bean, shaoxing wine, garlic and ginger. Desserts travel further afield – think churros with vanilla poached peach, or a chocolate and caramel fondant.

Dans Le Noir? – Clerkenwell

A slightly daunting dining experience that aims to encourage participants to re-evaluate their approach to eating. At Dans le Noir? you eat in complete darkness, so it’s the taste, smell and texture of the food on which you focus. Before being led into the pitch-black basement dining room by the restaurant’s blind guides/waiters, you select one of four colour-coded mystery menus: red (meat), blue (fish), green (vegetarian) and white (chef’s special). It’s a profoundly sensory food adventure that makes for a unique evening.

What’s on this week?