Gilgamesh (Closed)

Address: The Stables, Camden Market, London, NW1 8AH, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7482 5757
Website: view Gilgamesh (Closed)’s website
Door: Open door
Style: Restaurant bar
Food: Set menu

Review

Let's hope you like intricate wood carvings as this cavernous pan-Asian restaurant and lounge/club is covered head to toe in them, from the chairs to the bar (top and front), wall coverings and ceilings, even the urinals in the gents. Perched above Camden's Stables Market, Gilgamesh is named after an ancient Babylonian king and looks like the set of either an Indiana Jones movie or a Las Vegas themed hotel. It's all very dramatic and has a definite wow factor - at least the first time you use it.

Enter via an escalator that rises from a small enclave of fast food emporia in the market below to reach the venue - the restaurant is straight ahead, the bar to the left. There, to a Buddha Bar-style soundtrack, a fairly basic list of cocktails awaits, with barely a nod to the erstwhile eastern theme, which feels like something of a missed opportunity: think fruity Martinis and low-end premium spirits. A list of 26 sakes that existed in the venue's earlier days has been cut to just a handful now - a sign that this is about a cosmetically transporting eastern experience rather than an authentic one. Fun, and as long as you are not precious about what's on offer, you won't be disappointed.