Friday 29 July 2011

Inamo - Seeing is believing... projecting your food desires!



 






Inamo was an Innovation in a room, the vibrancy of the projector illuminated the dark decor. I love the concept of Inamo, cut out annoying waiters, seeing what are going to eat before you order, more choice to the diners and the element of fun dining.

I love technology I can't  imagine the world without my laptop, iPhone or the Internet. Social phobics would have to go outside and we all spend more- save less.  My previous manager mentioned that I was a must go to Inamo, that was also the night of her anniversary with her boyfriend, so it must be a good place to go, surely it is a man's job to dazzle a lady to maintain a healthy relationship! After reading reviews by other bloggers I thought, it's a must go if you live in London. I had my YSL sunglasses ready (one blogger complained that the projectors was intensively bright.  I am quite use to staring at computer screens at work, watching 3D films and watching T's foo fighter video several times and all of his handy gradient techniques.

It was T's birthday so where to go... someone who loves technology, breathes film techy passion and likes the experience of dining some wow factor and dazzle, the answer is Inamo.

It was Sunday 8:45 the restaurant was very busy with couples and groups of curious yuppies young professionals.  At the core of Inamo is the interactive ordering system. Diners place orders from an illustrated food and drinks menu projected on to their table surface.




 On the top you select Drink, Small Dishes, Large Dishes, Table Theme, Games or Watch the CHEF.













Project the Image of the food onto your plate....





















If you get stuck you can actually grab the waiter's attention by using your mouse pad. I think that EVERY Japanese and Pan Asian Restaurant should have Warm Sake. The waiter did apologize because it was Sunday they had ran out of Warm Sake and some Ingredients. If your a busy restaurant you should always have extra supplies of alcohol especially Alcohol doesn't go out of date quickly. So we ordered the Red Sake, interestingly made from red rice and served cold. Due to the lighting in Inamo I have tried to photoshop pictures, but as you can gather the Purple Lotus Table theme did not make taking pictures very easy to take. I hope they are ok and visible!



Crunchy FiveSpiced Pork Belly8.50)
Served on ginger mirin, spring onions, fuji apple sauce and leek wool. The pork was very tasty, the rind was crispy in the middle was this sweet apple sauce that accompanied the pork fantastically. Apple and Pork goes really well together, maybe its to do with making the pork taste a lot leaner. I think Inamo should of added the sauce around the dish because people don't discover the scrumptious sauce till the end. The shredded leek and spring onion tasted very plain, if they caramelised or just added finely chopped Mizuna would of made this dish taste top notch. Ok I know it's Pan Asian so it's not going to be like Sake No Hana or So Restaurant.




There was alot of choice on the menu so we decided to share lots of dishes. Traditionally in Asian and Oriental cultures you often share dishes, I also like doing this because I get to taste everything.
 
Duck Temaki (£5.00) Shredded duck, spring onions and cucumber wrapped in rice and nori served with hoi sin sauce. This was one of my favourite dishes, the duck was brilliantly executed not dry, filled chives, spring onion and cucumber. The rice was fresh and sticky, it was rolled with passion.



 Citrus Mussels (£9.75) Served with a lemon and yuzu sauce. Inamo's take on a rare Chinese dish. This was my second favourite dish the mussell were cooked in a wonderful lemon sauce, the only dish that came in a good portion size. 
I noticed that the portion size Inamo was small, I believe you should always be left wanting more but not feeling hungry. I think there is a fine balance and unfornately for the price you are paying for Pan Asian Cuisine, Inamo is tipping to the hungry side you would expect more. Cicada and Eight Over Eight, is the same price better quality and you left feeling satisifed. Therefore it was inevitable we had to order lots of dishes.



Seafood Curry (£14.00) Creamy coconut curry, with shrimp, salmon, okra, potato, mussels, clams and tiger prawn. When I eat curries I want to taste all the herbs and flavours, not be burnt by the hot spiceness that I can't taste anything. Once again I have to mention maybe because it was Sunday they didn't have as many ingredients. This curry was tasteless, a real dissapointing, 3 small bits of salmon, 3 mussels, 2 Clams and 1 Tiger prawn head. So dissapointing, this was a big dish aswell, lots of mediocre yellow coconut fluid with minimal ingredients, they are really not making me happy. I ordered the rice to go with this and I really know how rice should be cooked, since I have eating rice since I was 3. One one to describe the rice overcooked.



Soft Shell Crab Maki Rolls (£6.75)
A round roll of sushi, formed with the help of a bamboo mat and cut into 5 pieces. Withavocado and chives, served with chilli mayonnaise. I think I could eat this dish twice over, the soft shell crab was lightly battered in Tempura, very crispy. I can't fault the Sushi chef in Inamo, really good Sushi..... Ok honestly there should be Sashimi on the Menu.


Seared Scallops (£6.75)
Thinly sliced with a yuzu & wasabi dressing (Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit). Ok please do not offend me or other seafood lovers by thinly dicing a scallop into four pieces horizontally and calling that a portion. Scallops are meant to be left wholesome and moist.




Baby Crispy Prawns £7.00
Lightly battered served with a Thai mango relish.
Sometimes people eat food without wondering how food is cooked. There are eaters and food obesessed lovers, I fit into the latter end of the scale. I am so obsessed with food, I often remember how I have tasted it before and how the chef has cooked it. The prawns were not baby prawns, they were prawns diced into three bits then dipped into batter. If I wanted to be on a Size Zero diet I know where to go.





Tuna benito maki (£8.00)
5 pieces of tuna and mango maki wrapped in smoky flavoured benito flakes. Once again the Sushi chef did a great job, the mango twist worked very well with the Tuna.


To cleanse our palate we ordered two cocktails, I saw the lady next to me order the Inamo cocktail, I thought I must have one.
Inamo6.50) This cocktail is spicy! Zesty mandarin puree muddled with spring onion and shaken with Smirnoff black and chilli syrup, decorated with a huge chilli. It definately had a kick but it was like drinking chilli in a glass. All the people at the Chilli Food Festival would love this.

Raspberry lemon cooler (£9.50) Muddled fresh lemongrass with raspberry puree, fresh lemon juice and Hendricks gin. Served in a tall glass with crushed ice and carbonated water. I recommend this cocktail as it was very refreshing.
 



When looking at the dessert menu, we weren't blown away. So I decided to settle the bill and go to Peche Patisserie. T mentioned he had a great time, but deep down I was very disappointed and going to take him to a second birthday dinner. You should go here to experience an unusual dining experience but do not go there expecting the food to be amazing.

The venue:Inamo
Cuisine: Pan Asian
Date visited: 24/07/11
The damage: £110 party of 2
The food: 5 out 10
The service: 8 out 10

Will I recommend Inamo: Yes just to experience a new wacky dining experience of ordering your own food and playing battle ships whilst waiting for dinner.
Will I return: No I only return if the food is really good.
Have I had better: Yes I had alot better Pan Asian Food and not as pricey.

 

Tuesday 26 July 2011

From French Provencal Cuisine to Bonne Gourmand!

Walking down Chancery Lane you have some of the Finest British Architecture. City bankers and professionals wearing their business attire looking rather dashing. You can't miss the front entrance of Cigalon, the Victorian pillars were draped with natural trees. I thought how Idyllic...

I had high expectations because this Provencal French Restaurant was created from the Michelin Starred Chef of ClubGascon. I have recently dined there back in June and I was blown away by their Rabbit Ballotine and Frasier. Let's stop reminiscing and get back to yet an experience at Cigalon I will never forget.

As we entered everyone was amazed by the interior decor, high ceilings encased in glass and the abstract aesthetically pleasing chandeliers. The restaurant certainly had a Now Wow Factor, as soon as you entered.
The handsome waiter gave very good recommendations and interpretations of the menu. Trust me this is a bonus as I have been to places, where I have asked them to recommend or explain how the special of the day is cooked. I get this weird stare and a response 'it is good madame'. The staff at Cigalon knew the menu and you can tell that they have tasted the food.
 Seemingly as we were eating fish and white meat for mains, I decided to order the Domaine du Colombier 2009 Petit Chablis. I really enjoy drinking wine, the Chablis is a dry crisp wine that has wonderful Citric Aromas. I loved their wine bar modern and clean, one can only dream, having a bar like that at home. We sat in the very comfortable lavender booths, it was relaxing and we felt exclusively in our own special experience.

They offered us complimentary Olive bread with an Black Olive Tapenade.
I am a big fan of olives, the tapenade was thick and made with fresh olive not puree. I am very accustomed to having my bread warm so that was one thing that can be improved. There's nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread and the butter just melting on the crust.




On to the starters Chicory & Snail FricassĂ©e, “Mont Ventoux” Ham, Soft Boiled Egg & Soldier. Snails are not what I normally choose to eat, since Heston Blumenthal's snail porridge, restaurants like St Johns and Cigalon have jumped onto the Food Fad Wagon. Only one criticism the snails should be fresh not in brine. The Mont Ventoux ham was lightly cured and not salty. The egg was warm and still runny in the middle just the way I like my eggs poached. It did leave me wondering whether this was Provencal France answer to breakfast?

I am a keen fan of scallops, I often try to get cooking inspiration from eating at restaurants. "Indulging feeds the mind, Inspiration feeds soul." So I couldn't resist ordering the Roasted King Scallops, White Asparagus Emulsion & Poutargue. The display of the scallops was a burst of fireworks, the moist scallops with a creamy blue cheese risotto just melted in my mouth.


So as my friend glazed over the handsome waiter, she decided to have his recommendation Jour du Poissin, Seared Tuna steak on a bed of Seasonal Salad. There's always a good excuse to have a bite from someone else's plate! The tuna was fresh, lightly seared and soft, so soft that it just glided on to my fork, very well seasoned, the salad was crunchy drizzled with an herb olive oil dressing.


The metallic porcelain plates gave a brass shimmer to the Suckling Pig Belly, Ceps Polenta & Wild Garlic Sauce, the pork was succulent and the crackling was crispy. The garlic sauce was not over powering and accompanied the pork well. I think this was my favourite dish of the evening.




Home Smoked Salmon PavĂ© with Macaroni Gratin, Samphire &Oyster "Sabayon," The salmon was smoked in oak, which added the rustic flavour. The Al dente macaroni gratin was the emulsion of Provencal French cuisine with historic influences from Italy.  The samphire makes a great accompaniment to fish. Samphire looks like little asparagus shoots, but eaten it has a crunchy texture with a burst salty juice. Sounds strange but you a can normally have samphire instead of adding salt to seafood (e.g my favourite scallops with chorizo on a bed lightly tossed sampire).

Your probably wondering where is the dessert? I am firm lover of dessert Chocolate Fondant and all things sweet. However the ladies had their eyes on cocktails at the bar next door.

The venue: Cigalon
Cuisine: French - Provencal 
Date visited: 20/07/11
The damage: £128 party of 3
The food: 8 out 10
The service: 9 out 10

Will I recommend Cigalon: Yes, the service was brilliant and the food was tasty. The mix of Provencal Fad, relaxed ambience and the quirkiness of the decor worked well. Tres bien!
Will I return: Yes, Maybe Soon
Have I had better: Oh yes I definitely have but the experience here is one that is memorable.


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