With the prospect of eating from an interactive table, you may think this is some bonkers idea from the future of 2025 – but in fact it’s already arrived and in fact been here in London for some time, in the form of Inamo. Inamo is a Asian fusion restaurant & bar in the heart if central London, providing good food and cocktails – all within the reach from quite literally, the touch of your fingertips. The way this revolutionary dining experience works is by an overhanging projector beaming down on to the table. It’s not only food & drink you can order too, but also pick your table covering, play battleship, check out the local area – even order a taxi home. Word of warning – it’s very addictive.
You’ll have to excuse my blue hue to the photos – the light from the projector isn’t the most glamorous of back drops. Food wise you get to see all the dishes projected onto your plates first, except they don’t always look the same when they arrive at the table, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have flavour. Tuna tartare with truffled miso sauce looked noting like its projected photo, but in fact it was full of flavours, texture and the truffle element was much more refined than I was expecting. The dish could have easily been better still if it was served in a shallow bowl and with a little less sauce – it does drown the tartar a little. Beef tataki was less successful and while it looked nice and pink in the centre, it was actually slightly tough and overcooked. Mango pork belly from the tapas section of the menu was a rather unusual dis. The meat was hot, sticky and full of flavour – but served on a stone cold (fridge cold) plate which meant everything cooled down in seconds. I’ve no idea if this is common practice here or a mistake, but it’s a real shame because the dish could be great.
The more we delved into our meal here at Inamo, the better things seemed to get and overall more consistent in terms of cooking, flavour and presentation. Baby crispy prawns were very good. Coated in a lovely golden and well seasoned crumb and served alongside a spicy Thai mango dipping sauce (I could have eaten this stuff for days). Just as successful was the tomato and avocado salad – I love the both of them so matched together it’s always heaven for me. Here it was beautifully presented and marinated in a chilli, ginger and shallot sauce – all the acidity in the dish quite literally left you salivating with each mouthful.
The main spectacle here and something which you must order when visiting Inamo is the baby Malayan chicken – it’s marinated in a sweet Malaysian spice mix, fresh lime and chilli grass garnish. The chicken was so succulent that it must have been soaking for who knows how long – the moment you bite into it all that marinade seeps out of any nooks and crannies. The Malaysian thick paste of a dipping sauce really was special, don’t leave the place till you try this dish. Equally as good was the side of beautifully executed spicy aubergine – cooked down to a nice and soft texture on the inside, but with a good crunch on the outer. This was one of my favourite dishes of our interactive dinner.
One thing I did get carried away with here – was wine. With all this food and drink at the touch of a button, the novelty never seems to wear off – I had glasses of chilled white wine adorning my table by the end, aiding me to make room for desert. A trio of ice-creams our waiter asked us to guess the flavours, but sadly all three were far to tame to even begin guessing. Mini dessert plate didn’t leave a huge amount to the imagination and was a little ordinary, but suitably pleased our sweet tooth.
Inamo was for the most part, an experience I’m so glad I finally got round to having, but for me the food here was inconsistent throughout the whole meal. Would I come back to Inamo? Yes. Come for drinks and carefully selected dishes and you can have a wonderful time here, but pick wrong and things can turn a little sour. If you’re looking for a fun and interesting meal then I highly recommend this place, but don’t expect it to be the best meal you’ve ever had.
6/10
