Archipelago

Time to redress the balance on the reviews here! I found very little wrong with the place. For once a restaurant has dared to be different. We need to celebrate this; not condemn it.

For an exotic dining experience, this surely must be the place to go.

For those not already in the know, the menu is a variety of odd foods not usually available in the UK. But they also include some more standard selections for those not feeling adventurous. So if you fancy eating crocodile, zebra and scorpions, you can. But you can also eat tofu, chicken and ice cream just the same.

Yes, I did try the scorpions and would recommend the experience for the bragging rights alone. As for the taste - you'll have to go there and see for yourself! But it was not unpleasant. Interesting, though.

While I take the point from previous reviewers about brusque service, I'm willing to make allowances for the cultural clashes between us and the nationalities of the staff. We all need to be flexible and accommodating. Besides, our waitress (and waiter) seemed quite polite actually and offered no end of advice on the unusual food choices and seemed quite at home keeping their customers entertained.

The only reason I've dropped a point on service is because they allocate tables in time slots, which means they table-turn you. I'm not a fan of this and I wish restaurants wouldn't do it. I recognise that a restaurant is a business that needs to remain profitable, but it does spoil things a bit.

Personally I really liked the decor. It's a bit cramped and I'd normally frown on this, but it seems to work. Even the toilets are nice and presentable! Again it dares to be different and this is refreshing.

It is, however, quite expensive overall. I realise we're talking about unusual food here - and this brings extra cost with it. That's fine. However, something standard, such as chicken, need not be quite so expensive alongside zebra. Unless they need to make their pricing seem consistent. But I feel a score of 9 is fair.

All things considered, I would both recommend this restaurant and go back, myself - particularly when faced with the question "I fancy something different tonight".
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Alan Ingham - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, September 27, 2011

This pathetic excuse for a restaurant is horrendous! The food is mediocre at best, the decor is fake and tacky and top it off, I have never encountered such rude and arrogant staff in my life! It is ridiculously overpriced for what you receive and they include 12.5% service charge in the bill for the appalling customer service. The area is filled with so many nice restaurants, don't make the mistake I did and choose Archipelago.
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0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, June 08, 2011

We went to Archipelago on Saturday for an exotic Birthday meal. We found the place quite quickly, but were a bit surprised that it was completely empty (apart from one table) and one not so happy to be there waitress. The pleace was dark and we were squeezed into a tiny table surrounded by lots of dusty fake decorations, i.e. trees, birds, statues...

We then had a complaint regarding the payment before ordering our meal (don't want to go into details), but that has resulted into an argument between us and 'manager' who didn't have any authority to resolve the issue.

Threfore we didn't have an 'exotic meal' but surely exotic experience!

My verdict: if you want to dine in a tacky, dusty, 'exotic' place with way overpriced menu - go for it, if you want an amazing service and food - go to Gaucho, 5 minutes walk from there :)
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1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Monday, April 18, 2011

I went last night with a friend and had a very nice time. I would agree that the prices are rather over the top - £19 for a mains. However, we wanted to try the food and that is the price you pay.

The ostrich starter was delicious, very tender meat in a lovely creamy sauce, whilst the crocodile was just ok, a little chewy. Not huge portions.

Mains were zebra, which was a little tough and not very flavoursome but the kangeroo was very tasty and very tender - a difficult result to achieve with this meat, I believe.

We were co-erced into having the Love Bug salad which was a diappointment. £7 for a small bowl of spinach and rocket with about 6 bugs.

Dessert was very nice too. They are trying to be creative but as we just had the one chocolate dessert it is difficult to say whether this is successful.

Service was very friendly and gauged perfectly. Decor was unusual and atmosphere was good. We arrived early but the restaurant soon filled up.

I would return but maybe if I had a special offer because it was expensive for a midweek trip after work.
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Sarah - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, April 13, 2011

In my opinion Archipelago just like all gimmicks has now had it's day. I went there this week having been once before. This time I was sorely disappointed and left feeling cheated. If you see past the novelty of the exotic meats you realise that this is nothing more than a pretentious street cafe selling run of the mill food at sky high prices. I found their attempts at cooking authentic Asian dishes were particularly risible. If you like Uncle Bens Cooking Sauces you'll love the Jakaratan Fever Rendang a snip at £17 or alternatively go and get the real thing for £10 at an Indonesian restuarant.

So unless you've got a 7 figure bank balance or you've downed one too many of their £8.50 cocktails, you'll balk at paying a fortune for a limited selection of poorly cooked dishes served in microscopic portions. Furthermore your furrowed brow is unlikely to be soothed by the superior attitude of the waiters who act like pushy salesmen or the cheap, tacky decor. My only surprise is that given the dubious nature of the food and the extremely poor value this type of fad restaurant ofers it has yet to fall victim to the recession.
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SaileshBP - View all reviews by this user
1 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Sunday, September 19, 2010

I had been meaning to go to Archipelago for quite some time as I live very close by and had always wondered what it was like. I have to say I was very dissapointed with the experience. We were seated in a tiny little cramped table near the window where we had to move several times to let other people in. The service was reasonably friendly but more in a scripted way than genuine. I always got the feeling that the waitresses were more interested in trying to get you to order as much as possible rather than make you feel welcome.

I ordered the Sweet Potato Won-Ton Soup to start which was cold (and meant to be) but this is not mentioned on the menu. It was gloopy and far too thick and not particularly tasty. My partner ordered the Ostrich to start which was not bad.

I then order the Gnu (wildebeast) which was well cooked but a little bland. The root vegetables that accompanied it were inedible. The mushrooms were greasy and the root vegetable horrible. Out waitress offered us Sorbets between courses and then added £5 to the bill. They were like flavoured crushed ice and extremely bland.

My partner order the Zebra which again was not bad. It came with noodles which were also OK.The Wine list is way over priced for the wines that are included. I ordered a Pinotage at £31 and it was very average.

There are many many great restaurants in Fitzrovia and I have been to a lot of them but Archipelago is not one of them. If you simply want something different then that is what you get but top food you certainly do not get.

They also add 12.5% automatically to the bill which is a bit cheeky.

All in all I will not be going back to Archipelago as it is overpriced and overrated.
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Mike Colquhoun
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, June 09, 2010

I came across Archipelago one December evening while wondering the backstreets near Warren Street. It was a highly cold and rainy night and the restaurant looked intriguing with its dark colours and mystical interior. I made a mental note to go at some point in the near future, and I finally had the opportunity to last night.

Archipelago really needs to be visited in the darker times of the year to get the full feel from the atmosphere it generates. Arriving just after 8.30pm in the late April dusk meant that the evening wasn't as dark as it could have been, and I'd recommend getting there when night has properly hit in order to be wowed by the ambiance on arrival. Inside was beautifully adorned with a mixture of African and Asian décor. I'm not normally a fan of the whole African look, but in this setting, and softened by the Asian mysticism, it worked rather well. Our table was beautifully decorated with candles, ornate cutlery and a mbira, which provided amusement at various points throughout the evening. So much for the atmosphere - which is there in spades - but what about the food?

I've scanned the reviews here and it seems that some people were expecting nothing less than exotic delectable excellence. That particular culinary myth was vanquished from my mind long ago when it comes to restaurants, no matter how much you're paying. However, the food in Archipelago is good for what it is. When you've wrapped your brain around exactly which of the weird delights on offer you're going to brave, you might be surprised by how flavourful they are. Small spirals of ostrich with a light cream sauce were smooth and delicious, while the cricket and leaf salad was also very good indeed. The zebra was tough – which I took to be the nature of the meat rather than the cooking – but certainly good, though the sauce was a little watery. Desserts were very well done too, my girlfriend's ziggurat-shaped berry marvel being particularly impressive to both of us. The service was a little hit and miss though: the waitress was attentive but she seemed to be rather new, making a couple of errors such as forgetting to provide cutlery and taking away my liqueur before I had finished it. However, I let these slide since my concern was more to do with enjoying the evening than paying attention to her mistakes.

Apart from a couple of very minor snags the night was a delightful experience and certainly as good as I'd hoped. The general feel on this website is that it's a place to go once and once only for novelty: I, on the other hand, would be more than willing to revisit another time and try out the crocodile or the scorpion. One final word – the place is quite expensive for what it is - but no-one said importing zebra and gnu en masse was necessarily cheap.
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deep silent complete
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Sunday, April 25, 2010

a bit of a mixed bag......especially the food. most of the dishes were pretty good (rabbit and duck starters; kangaroo and zebra mains) and some a little poor (beetroot ravioli starter lacked any real earthy beetroot flavour; tilapia main overcooked, slightly charred with a burnt aftertaste, lovebug salad somewhat smaller that anticipated and contained about 6 very small crispy bugs). great atmosphere - quirky, colourful, different glasses and cutlery. friendly and chatty staff. but expensive and not great value for money. great for a fun occasion (don't forget a "visit from the doctor") but not sure it's worth a second visit.
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7 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Sunday, September 13, 2009