Gilgamesh - Camden
Review by Veronica Blake
IF EVER there were an indication that Camden Town has shaken off its hippy image, then it has to be Gilgamesh the swish new arrival to Camden Stables maket, which wouldn’t look out of place in Beverly Hills or Las Vegas.
Over the past decade we have seen a creeping gentrification to Camden Town which was associated more with Goth and Punk Rock working class bohemia.
It began with Getty Images and its Silicon Valley-type staff in dressed down casual attire of jeans and trainers in Bayham St. Followed by MTV and Viacom. The arrival of Starbucks, Pret a Manger and Gap further sealed Camden Town’s Yuppy Silicone Valley credentials.
But the 1,500 sq ft palatial Gilgamesh, designed by the Stables Market team in the style of Norman Foster, is an indication that Camden Town has definitely gone upmarket and is currently London’s hippest borough.
The name is derived from the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh, rated the oldest literature on record, dating from the third Millenium BC. It is preserved on 11 clay tablets discovered in the 19th Century, and it’s hero, Lord Gilgamesh, half-man, half-god, may have been a historical figure.
You walk up a red carpet, are greeted by doormen and escalators whisk you up into this massive palatial space, all wood carvings hand made in India. There are immense carved chairs with arms for arms and a Sumerian figure of a ram in a thicket from the British Museum.
Like a cross between Ceasar’s Palace and a Dubai Sheikh’s version of a 7-star hotel, Gilgamesh is like no other restaurant you’ve ever been to. There’s a gigantic bar, a lounge and tearoom.
The room, which is as vast as an airport lounge, can seat 500 diners, although there are cosy booths where you have a sense of more intimate dining.
The best time to visit is at sunset, the huge glass walls perfectly frame the setting sun, as freight trains rumble past like a scene from a Gus Van Sant movie.
After sunset, the vast room takes on a spectacular hue of constantly changing colours with a light show. From a central console, between two great Babylonian figures of human headed winged lions, a DJ plays Buddah Bar type Arabian and Eastern music. The CDs are for sale.
The food is Pan-Asian in style. Starters include salmon, dim sum and yellowtail sashimi sushi.
The Miso soup was delicious, light and fragrant; the Coconut-based creamy Dtom kha soup was rich and filling. The Gilgamesh signature dish, Miso Chilean seabass roasted in a hoba leaf, was superb, better than the infamous Nobu version. Beef fillet with sweet soy glaze and Japanese chive mash was also cooked to perfection.
The chef is Ian Pengelley, formerly of E&O and Pengelley’s. He must be in seventh heaven here where he has the culinary creative freedom to prepare such delicious desserts as the warm passion fruit pudding, a rice pudding like I’ve never eaten before, with hazelnut dacquoise biscuit, and yuzu, a Japanese citrus fruit.
There are some delicious cocktails such as Shamash, a combination of gin, lavender, lychee and champagne. House wine is a modest £12 a bottle, £3 a glass which, considering the palatial surroundings, seems a bargain. There’s even a Sake Sommelier!
I spotted a rare Chateau de la Tour for a whopping great £5,000. Camden Stables has come a long way from the days of hippy chic tie dyes, joss sticks, Doc Martins, combats and second hand Withnail-style tweed coats I thought.
Lunch is a reasonable £12 for two courses which will attract many of the thousands of visitors who flock to Camden Market each weekend.
Filling the 500-seater venue seven nights a week will be a challenge for the owners who claim that “Gilgamesh is somewhere fit for the Gods” and that they are “reviving the ancient Babylonian legacy in a contemporary setting”. Well, you couldn’t get more contemporary than Camden Market in 2006.
Gilgamesh,
Camden View,
Camden Stables Market,
Chalk Farm Road,
N.W.1.
020 7482 5757.
Daily from 11am until late.
Average meal for two £80.
Lunch £12/£15 two courses.