halloween dinner at Gilgamesh

Firstly, really sorry for the quality of photos in this post. No, it’s not that I forgot my camera and had to take photos with my phone or anything like that. I had my camera with me, I’m just a crappy excuse for a photographer. Well, that’s part of it. The photos are also dark and grainy because look, look at the redness of the place! Can you see how dark it is in Gilgamesh?

I tell you what, if food bloggers ruled the world, we would abolish mood lighting. Screw romance.

Secondly, we went to Gilgamesh on Halloween. Being that it’s in Camden Town where ghouls stalk the streets any other given day of the year, it was like a totally normal day, oh except for our ghosty friends… read on… if you dare!

*evil laugh* *choke choke*

Last year I put in an inkling of effort and dressed up like the guy from A Clockwork Orange. Not that anyone knew who I was (it could be that I was wearing a very short black skirt and from memory, Alex de Large did not, tho now that I think about it why not? What’s creepier than a psycho killer in an ass hugging mini skirt??) and I am so scarred from the experience that this year, we skipped Halloween all together and hung out in Camden Town where it’s totally normal to have cobwebs hanging out from your cleavage.

We were due for a catch up with our friends David & Isabella, and when Isa suggested we check out Gilgamesh (and given I had no other suggestions at the time) we thought, why not. It’s meant to be a celeb hang out afterall, we might be able to spot some hot famous person in a slinky cat suit.

Sadly, all we spotted was a middle aged hens party.

apple martini; crispy squid; Mr Chang's sushi roll; avocado and sweet potato tempura

Gilgamesh boasts a Pan-Asian menu, with cuisines ranging from Japanese to Thai to Korean, and some fusion creations which don’t really have a home. We shared a few small dishes to start, including Mr Chang’s sushi rolls (which came recommended but was rather plain), crispy squid and avocado & sweet potato tempura.

The crispy squid was very good ~ light and crispy with a tangy sweet dipping sauce. The avocado tempura was marginally weird. I don’t think avocado is a thing you deep fry.

duck & watermelon salad; galbi beef; shichimi lamb cutlets; green curry chicken

Starters were a little hit and miss, so I was anxious about the mains. They turned out rather well though – the duck & watermelon salad with cashew nuts and fresh basil actually quite surprised me. It was tastier than I’d expected, and came with enough duck that it would have held its own as a main.

The green curry chicken was another winner with a decent amount of spice and chicken… I know that sounds like a weird to say but seriously, the number of places that don’t give you enough chicken. Don’t get me started.

The meat dishes were also spot on, although I wouldn’t call that there galbi beef. Call it what it is, slices of beef, and it would do fine. Cooked a lovely medium rare, the beef is coated in a chilli sauce which kicks pretty hard, and is served atop a ginormous mountain of pea mash, which was a little odd.

And the lamb cutlets, they were probably the winner for the night. Tender as tender does and marinated in something delicious, we had to squabble over the last piece. Politeness is not me when it comes to food.

chocolate fondant; green tea & banana cake; apricot crumble with cinnamon ice cream

Desserts I thought was a bit of a non-event. Woah. Say what?? I know I know, I lurve desserts and all that jazz. But actually it was all a little ordinary and the only one which wasn’t ~ the green tea & banana cake (I mean, doesn’t that sound like it has so much potential?) ~ was thick, dry and bland. Ick.

But I ate it all anyway 🙂

Ok, so being in the spirit of giving – oh wait, it’s Halloween? I thought it was Christmas already  – anyway, whatever, being in the spirit of sharing then, I thought I’d post a rare people shot here. 

Why? Well, because I take a hell of a lot of photos and I would hazard a guess that the split of food to human is like 90-1. No joke. So Isabella made me take a people shot, and well, I thought I’d share it with you.

us, the Battistons and our ghosty friends

Here’s me, my man, Isabella and David, and oh there in between, our ghosty friends, visiting us on Halloween.

ps. ewwww, see that spider on my plate? Gross man.

pps. my overall opinion of Gilgamesh is that it’s a little over priced. But I think you’re meant to be paying for the ambience. Whatever.

Gilgamesh
The Stables Market
Chalk Farm Road
Camden, NW1 8AH
0207 482 5757
website

Gilgamesh on Urbanspoon

4 Thoughts on “ghouls, galbi & grainy photos: halloween @ Gilgamesh

  1. Deep fried avocado? What the f…? And the Galbi that isn’t really Galbi atop of what let’s face it is mushy peas is also a bit weird (although the beef seemed properly cooked). I’m naturally suspicious of high-end pan-Asian places like this and your post hasn’t changed my mind!

  2. I’ve only been to Gilgamesh the once and I thought the food overall was a bit of non event. My assistant chose this place for some French promoters to entertain me, and they thought it was even worse. I ain’t going back!

  3. Mr Noodles: Yeh I know, avocado tempura is just weird. I know avocado tastes nice in some cooking eg toasted wraps etc, but some how it fried on its own is just wrong. Kinda goo-ey wrong.

    Mark: The food was ok (the mains were nice) but overall, I wouldn’t go back either. Massively overpriced (for the ambience and the fact that supposedly famous people go there) but otherwise.. meh.

  4. Looks like a fun night!

    I’ve been to Gilgamesh twice and was disappointed in both food and service both times. I won’t waste my money there a third time.

    It’s a shame that the food doesn’t live up to the space.

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