Review: Archipelago 2

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?

The restaurant is so cosy, my friend and I overstayed our welcome to the point of being the only ones left (sorry). It doesn’t feel like a restaurant in London and the atmosphere is really laid back. I could picture myself at some mama’s house somewhere in Africa. Every detail from the menu to the decor is so authentic.

You guessed it, that is how the menu is presented.

To me it didn’t really matter what is tasted like as long as I gained the bragging rights, but the food was as nice as the experience. With the way they cook the dishes and the flavours used, you wouldn’t think its such exotic meat. We ordered sweet chilli zebra burger with black garlic mayonnaise and a sharing platter for two.

Zhug marinaded kangaroo skewer, Spicy crocodile bites, Mexican spiced belly pork, Jerked alpaca stew and Thai salad. You can add bugs to the salad normally but they had ran out of bugs by 2pm.

The only dish I wasn’t a big fan of was the crocodile. The pork, alpaca and kangaroo were delicious.

The dessert choices were presented in yet another unique menu. We chose the Medieval Hive to share. The platter may look small but trust me it is filling.

I wouldn’t order this dessert again because the flavours just didn’t blend well in my opinion. The texture of the sauce and the crackers didn’t seem quite right either. I got to taste a bee though!

Archipelago is definitely worth a visit. It’s a great place to take a date because the restaurant is fun, interesting and memorable. You don’t visit just for the food, but for the experience. The restaurant is not cheap but not overly expensive.

Rating: 4/5
53 Cleveland Street
London W1T 4JJ
Phone: +44 (0) 207 383 3346

Thank you to Zomato for providing us with a voucher in order to review the restaurant. Zomato have revamped their mobile app and its like the BarChick/DesignMyNight for food. They let you sort your restaurant search by so many different criteria/occasions and most importantly, there is an “unchained” option. This lets you filter out the big chains and explore more hidden gems. It’s the perfect app for food explorers and I love it, you can download it here.