What can I say about this place except that you will be saying wow repeatedly! From the decor to the food to the service!!! It’s a must visit for me everytime I visit the UK.
I brought my girlfriend here for her birthday. The service was polite & friendly. We opted for the python & zebra as a starter. Alpaca & bison with love bug salad & coconut rice as a main. Pharoah's treasure and medieval hive rounded up as dessert. All were nicely presented, the zebra and alpaca being the tastiest dishes we felt. Price was a bit in the higher end but not unreasonable. Overall a great dining experience!
For anyone judging- yes, I like to celebrate 1 year dating anniversaries!! (If you couldn’t tell from this blog so far- I’ll find any excuse to go out lol!). Apparently this restaurant was on a list I wrote of top 15 restaurants I want to visit- but for some reason I cant remember it! Clearly my list was well researched because this is one amazing hidden gem in London! There are a lot of photos in this post- but no photo can do it justice, you need to go and check this place out!
“Good afternoon,” said the voice, as I picked up the phone on Friday. “I’m just calling to confirm your reservation tonight.”. “Yes, we’re still on for nine. Two of us.”. “Very good. The password is ‘coconut’.”. And so began our adventure into London’s weirdest and most wonderful watering hole.
Celebrating birthdays is always good fun, when there's food involved it's even better right?
What if you was served an eclectic menu consisting of mealworm, crickets, zebra, buffalo. Crocodile and kangaroo?
Would it still be fun? 😀
Fo sho!
At Archipelago they literally have those in the menu and more, missing a few items, Alpaca being one of them one the night we went, didn't really seem like it was a problem.
Our fantastic waitress, Sasha was amazing!
She really provided us with the entertainment that encompassed the whole dining esoteric.
We was a large group of 9 but that didn't par her at all and every person including the birthday girl received a verbal burn from the aforementioned.
We encouraged her by laughing.
Food was stunningly presented alongside double measures for the spirits and more cocktails that would make Tom Cruise reach for his book.
An Elephant Mud bath seemed to be a fave on our table.
I would definately visit again, not for just the food, but for Sasha as well.
A few weeks ago during my day off from work, I met up with Naz for a long overdue catchup. Zomato had suggested Archipelago for lunch so we headed there after meeting up at the Google Cafe (my favourite blogging spot). For those who are all about crazy experiences and new food, Archipelago is perfect for you. Where else in London are you going to try crickets, bees, zebra, crocodile, kangaroo and python?
A fabulous quirky restaurant which is a hidden gem of London. Expect to find unusual meats such as kangaroo and alpaca cooked to perfection. Read more at www.anomalouslondon.com/eat/world-cuisine/
One of the best culinary experiences of my life, tricky ones but good enough. Vast variety and not a very stereotyped in any way. Gotta have that belly take on to a lot it ain't use to. A very soothing ambience , red , Elance like yet gypsy. Foor a different not an everyday day experience with the company , ambience .this is the place.
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Archipelago I found out means a group of islands (not quite sure how it relates to the restaurant). It's a small quaint eatery which will have your eyes wondering. We got lovely cushy seats in the back corner.
We visited for the lunch menu (12-2pm) which had a variety of items to choose from. They offer a variety of meats from zebra to crocodile (whatever your fancy). We stuck to the safe option, hot smoked salmon for the both of us and sides of smoked chips and Thai coconut rice. We ordered strawberry cocktails (can't remember the name). The presentation was amazing! The food delectable. The salmons were served with slightly wilted seasoned spinach.. Yum yum. Smoked chips! Who would have ever thought, they were so yummy!
The food and drink menu were in a glass bottle and a mini treasure chest and the dessert menu was in a book! We were thinking, 'why have they given us a book to read?!?'
I would recommend this hidden gem. The ambience is lovely and would be great for something unusual.
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If you want a food safari, this is definitely the place to start your exotic journey. The decor is eclectic and a crazy mix of fairytale exotic like opening up a Jumanji board. There are lots of little cute touches in the decor that make it pleasing to the eye, and a good conversation starter. It's warm, small and intimate feeling, and we found the staff to be helpful and attentive without being pushy or hovering. There is only one bathroom stall, but the facilities are clean and decorated in keeping with the main area of the restaurant.
The menu is full of wild, weird, and sometimes surprisingly wonderful creatures to delight your palate.
I'm not sure where else you can order a crunchy warm locust and roasted grub salad, with a zebra strips main course....?
The kangaroo main was delightfully tender and packed full of flavour, combined well with the spices and herbs selected by the chef. I raved about it for weeks.
My crocodile in vine leaves starter was pleasant enough, but somewhat underwhelming. A decent crab salad would have been as good.
Definitely somewhere to go for a meal to talk about, but not for the feint hearted. If you want to play it safe this is not the place for you. Put aside your doubts and go in with a gung ho attitude as if you were a foodie Scott approaching the Rosa Ice Shelf.
They have a decent cocktail menu for anyone needing a little Dutch courage before the adventure of ordering.
Lions and tigers and bears oh my (no seriously that's pretty much what's on the menu)! I was a bit daunted seeing Zebra, Crocodile and Kangaroo on the menu, and the interior looks a bit like your hippy friend Moonsong's apartment from the 90s, but the food was delicious and the service was great and I found myself wishing I had been more adventurous in my choices. Oh well, there's always next time, and I would come back, especially since with 50% off on The Fork, it was shockingly good value.
I absolutely loved my experience here. This is my second time and it was just as good as it was 10 years ago. I brought my wife here for our wedding anniversary and like so many others, she was hesitant because of the bold menu. But the moment she stepped in, we were so well looked after by everyone working there. The manager went out of his way to really talk to us about the meals. The menu was very well thought out, each exotic produce put together well to give each a unique fine dining experience. The cocktails were great but felt they could have also revealed the same bold experimentation and worldly inspirations as the meals. The staff even created an impromptu Happy Birthday chocolate plague despite it actually being our anniversary. They showed us a lot of love. This place is more than a novelty place, its the real deal. Will defo return.
Crocodile, Zebra, Kangaroo, Camel and last but not the least, Crickets, we got meats from all corners of the world, literally, here. Each and every dish we ordered had a distinct taste, flavour and it was served with great care and warmth by the two gentleman and lady serving us.
It was my birthday and the experience was fabulous
Oh, the desserts and cocktails are unique and a must-try as well.
Nice quirky restaurant and great atmosphere. Came here to try something different and my experience with the food was overall positive. The food was filling and everything was seasoned well. We had: frogs legs and pork belly for starter, Elk and Kangeroo for mains and chocolate brownie for dessert.
I’ve been meaning to visit this place for years and on a whim - we went tonight. Lovely staff. Delicious dishes - the stand out was the crocodile starter. Didn’t disappoint.
Amazing food in an nice and intimate atmosphere. Perfect place to have out of the ordinary food which they manage to make it taste amazing. The decoration of the place is very nice and the servers are very helpful, although the two women servers don’t seem to smile a lot. Only thing that I would critisize is that because the restaurant is quite small, it can become VERY loud and sometimes have to yell to speak to the person next to you
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Unique restaurant that you won’t find anywhere else in London. I came here a few years ago and remembered how quirky and interesting the restaurant was so I thought I’d try it again.
FOOD
So you can try a range of exotic foods from zebra to kangaroo to crocodile. Whether these are the real thing or not I have no idea frankly but the entire experience is interesting from the menu presentation to the food which is kind of from all around the world. My crocodile was essentially a really spicy curry. My zebra for starters tasted like chicken but it was still fun. Overall the food isn’t about quality but more about the coolness of it. Some dishes are a hit, others more of a miss it seems from our group.
ATMOSPHERE
Prime reason to come in my opinion as the decoration is fascinating. Imagine if Indiana Jones made a restaurant. Won’t spoil it any further.
STAFF/SERVICE
Most of the staff are Brazilian as the owner is too apparently and with that comes friendliness from the staff who joked around with us.
CONCLUSION
Really enjoyed it and look forward to trying it again. Make sure you book as the restaurant is tiny.
5* overall, food amazing, staff very friendly but not as informed about the food as expected. Asked some questions about food and answers were very vague.
Tried, crocodil - bit chewing,but apparently that's how should be, kangaroo and ostrich both very tasty and very well cooked.
Starter quite slamm portions but enough to taste the food.
Main instead,big portion - more than enough for a hungry person.
Atmosphere - nice but at one point restaurant was full and got a bit noisy and music background was to low volume.
I will recommend the place plus definitely will come back.
The food was good even if the frog legs were a bit disappointing.
The zebra and crocodile were amazing, as well as the elk, buffalo and ostrich!
I visited this place with two other friends. The restaurant has a very interesting exotic/fushion vibe, mostly due to the decor and the smell of frankincense and rose oil. Our waitress was very friendly and helpful. The place is perfect for a change in scenery and to try new things, but unfortunately I can't say I was blown away by the plates that I've tried, hence only the 4 stars for now.
Things that I've liked:
The hot buffalo (main) was definitely my favourite! Perfectly cooked, tender and the taste was very delicious. The crocodile in vine leaves (starter) was quite tasty too.
Things that could be improved:
The crickets salad (starter) definitely needs more crickets, they were a bit hard to find among the rocket and lettuce leaves. The camel (starter) was good but it needs some other side to complement its taste. The elk (main) was also delicious but the side (some sort of potato salad?) could be improved.
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