Relaunching the former 2007 Camden site, Gilgamesh is a pan-Asian restaurant, cocktail bar and lounge, situated in the heart of Covent Garden. The Mesopotamia-inspired space is named after one of its ancient heroes, Gilgamesh, and his epic adventures. Famed for being a celeb hotspot, this vibrant location aims to recreate its renowned spirit and energy, and offer a one stop destination for drinks, dinner and of course, music and lively activities afterwards. Within Gilgamesh, the Babylonian style décor includes hand carved bronze sculptures and gold and azure accents, with three distinct spaces to suit your occasion; head to the mezzanine level or subterranean space for your meal, stopping by the bar lounge for a pre or post-dinner cocktail.
On the menu, the pan-Asian offerings promise a journey through Japanese, Chinese, and Southeast Asian flavours, with plenty of familiar favourites and unique signature dishes, all best enjoyed sharing style. Begin with tasty nibbles like spicy edamame and sharing plates such as salmon tartar with sisho ponzu, beef tataki with foie gras and black caviar, and Japanese pizza with tuna truffle mizuma. Next, dive into skewers off the robata grill, and baskets of dumplings like siu mai and har gau. If you’d prefer to keep it lighter, there’s sushi, sashimi, nigiri and salads including the famed crispy duck, watermelon and cashew salad. Larger plates feature as well for something more substantial like ox cheek stew, grilled dover sole with basil and ribeye bulgogi with chive mash.
On the drinks side of things, there is an excellent selection of global wines with affordable bottles as well as revered labels from award winning vineyards, and Champagne if you’re celebrating a special occasion. The cocktail list is also not to be missed, offering classic cocktails, sake based concoctions like the Kingu which combines kiwi and midori liqueur with yuzu sake, and signatures like the Aruru which sees Bacardi Blanca flavoured with mint, lime and mango.