Taking the short stroll from Piccadilly Circus to Regent Street on a crisp February evening is a wonderfully romantic thing to do. Imagine it, we are dressed in period Victorian attire and the clocks have been turned back to 1910. A faux-English accented Dick Van Dyke has just skipped along a nearby rooftop with his coal smeared face and Yorkshire flat cap. He stops mid pirouette and gives us a cheeky glance. Actually, I never did much care for Mary Poppins or Van Dyke’s portrayal of that cheeky English Chimney sweep come jazz handed mockney, so I shake this surreal image I’m having, ignore my date’s bemused looks and make haste to Inamo St James, the destination of our early Valentine’s Day dinner.
The brainchild of self-confessed foodie geeks Danny Potter and Noel Hunwick, Inamo was conceived after they felt it difficult to get the attention of waiting staff in restaurants. The inspiring twosome decided upon a highly innovative and novel way of reinventing the restaurant experience. For those of you in the hospitality industry that earn a crust from waiting tables, you may wish to stop reading now, as what follows does not bode well for your profession!
The human interaction will end swiftly after being shown to your table. Following a brief lesson on how to use the interactive ordering system, you are on your own. Unless however, like us, you decide to sample a cocktail or two at the suitably ‘Zen’ like bar.
Once seated, the much hyped E-Table™ system is simple enough to navigate and within 10 minutes our table is quickly filled with a tasty array of pan Asian dishes. The Crispy five spiced pork belly is the highlight and the baby crispy prawns served with a Thai Mango relish is superb and distracts us from playing with the table design, well, for a few minutes at least. Whilst the dishes are not brought over by Twiki from Buck Rogers, the overhead display unit that projects the menu ordering system is very Back to the Future Two. Tuna Bonito Maki, Duck Temaki and Miso Grilled Seabass are swiftly devoured and then we are quickly back to spying on the kitchen with the ‘chef cam’ feature to check on our main courses.
Next up are the mains of Hot Stone Rib Eye and Fish Buri Bop and whilst not overbearing, are delicious. The Hot Stone Rib Eye comes on, surprisingly enough, a hot stone which gently cooks the beef; whist the traditional rice dish of Fish Buri Bop is served on a hot plate and prepared at the table by our waiter providing a welcome piece of human interaction!
It’s clear that a great deal of thought has gone into creating a sense of calm and tranquillity into the character of Inamo with its living wall, water feature and the air of a Japanese garden. The centre-piece interactive table works well which would certainly fill any unwelcome silences on an awkward first date.
For those still struggling to find an inspired venue for their Valentine’s dinner then us romantic buffoons at Blue Tomato heartily recommend Inamo (see what we did there). A special menu has also been created for the 14th.
http://www.inamo-stjames.com/pc/menu-list.php?id=34#nogo
For bookings call 0207 484 0500 or email; reservations@inamo-stjames.com
Written By Gary Corrin
Date posted: 13/02/2012
Category: News.
Comments
Comments are only open to subscribers.
Sign up, login or view your profile.
