Food, for a while now has been more than just good quality produce and a skilled chef. These two elements are undoubtedly at the heart of good cooking, but what a vast majority of diners want is an unforgettable experience; something to talk about with friends or brag about at a party. Events in the Sky are experts in creating unique brand experiences at height. Part of the global Dinner in the Sky group, operating in 43 different countries; with no two experiences ever the same. They have been operating in the UK now for a couple of years and with interest growing year on year.
To regular readers/followers, you may recall back in 2014 (a drunk me pictured above) when I was lucky enough to taste the food at height from one of our capitals best known French restaurants, Club Gascon – whilst suspended 100 feet in the air in the heart of Canary Wharf. This time the venue was London’s Southbank, with a lunch menu created by the oh-so talented Scott Hallsworth – Head Chef at Kurobuta London.
To start off the 6 course tasting, we were given a beautifully delicate, yet flavourful scallop tartar with yuzu kosho mayo, dill and saffron senbei. This isn’t the trickiest of dishes to create, but to make this in a kitchen suspended 100 feet in the air, in a space smaller than my car – it was a great start to an exciting menu. Shortly followed was a plate of yellowtail sashimi with kizami wasabi salsa and yuzu-soy. I absolutely adore sashimi and this didn’t let me down – it was truly delicious. The tuna was wonderfully firm and meaty, with the perfect balance of spice from the wasabi salsa and sourness from the yuzu-soy. A dish I could have easily eaten a second time round.
Third dish on the menu was the ‘junk food’ nigiri selection of salmon, lamb and deep-fried vegetable roll. Lamb you say! I know, I was equally as surprised. Did it work? yes – but would I want it again as a piece of nigiri? I’m not entirely sure. Still it was different and unique, exactly what you want when sky-high dining. I’m a huge fan of truffle too and the dot of truffle infused butter with the salmon nigiri added a lovely perfumed flavour. After my experience of Dinner in the Sky from last year, the cooking on this occasion was worlds apart. I liked last year, but I loved it this time round – Scott has such a way with food and flavours, a skill which sadly not every chef pulls off.
To follow was a tuna sashimi pizza with truffle ponzu and wasabi tobiko. The favours of this dish were good, but nothing really stood out for me. I couldn’t taste the truffle and the texture of the deep-fried ‘pizza’ base didn’t marry well with the lean tuna and smooth wasabi tobiko. I think it had the potential to be a better dish, with just a little tweaking – perhaps by infusing the wasabi tobiko with a slightly thinner base maybe. All the dishes here were perfectlty paired with wines from Villa Maria and Speyside Glenlivet Water.
The showstopper of this menu was the bbq pork belly, steamed bun and spicy peanut soy. When we first boarded our ‘flying table’, Scott was readying the pork for cooking on what looked like a beach bbq. A truly satisfying dish to watch being created and of course – to eat. The dish had a real smokyness running through it and full-on meaty flavour. While I didn’t find the peanut soy very spicy; it complimented the meat perfectly, cutting through the fattiness and balancing the overall taste. If I had Scott on the other end of my Whatsapp he’d be getting midnight phone calls from me requesting this dish – probably after one too many in Soho.
To finish this Japanese culinary journey we were presented with a bowl of jasmine brulee with soft rum bananas, brown rice ice cream and kinaki crumble. I really can’t describe just how satisfying this dessert was in words. A real combination of individual flavours, but all working in perfect harmony. The chatter and noise around the table from fellow diners seemed to fade – a good sign they were enjoying every mouth full just as much as me. If I had one piece of advice to give you for 2015, it would be to book Dinner in the Sky for 2016 – it truly is an experience like no other.
8.5/10
