I went down for a massive around-the-world gorge-fest at a posh food hall – and had a blast.
Arcade on Tottenham Court Road in central London is a lot of things at once. Part restaurant, part bar and part food hall, this swanky spot seeks to reimagine the tried and tested model of having multiple vendors under one roof. Instead, Arcade keeps the model of multiple kitchens but offers diners a sit-down experience ordering off a single menu.
The outcome? Some serious cuisine fusion.
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My girlfriend’s sister had just got engaged, so the four of us headed down for a slightly hungover long Sunday Lunch to celebrate. Guinness was the starting point in the hope it might take the edge off the headache before launching into the sprawling menu.
Service was great, both attentive and professional, and as we sat in a swish corner table it was easy to forget you were in a food hall at all, rather than a more conventional posh restaurant.
In an initial order, we opted to go for the following: Kaffir lime cashews from Palm greens and grilled aubergine crispy tofu from Bebek Bebek. We copped some seriously saucy BBQ paneer tikka from Hero and from Sushi Kamon, we ordered crispy deep-friend rice and salmon sushi which was chewy and delicious, a tuna sushi set, Ginger and an Osaka arancini.
The groom-to-be got hot and bothered about US-inspired Mana, a place he’d heard good things about, and initially ordered us some Seasoned waffle fries that were full of flavour and beautifully crispy without being greasy. This initial round was all wrapped up with beautifully crispy Squid tareko from the Nepalese joint Tipan Tapan.
As this first wave settled and the Guinness worked its magic, my hangover fading away, we reflected on what we had so far. Across the board, the food had been incredibly well received, and it genuinely felt like we were eating our way around the world.
One thing we were all sure of – none of it felt greasy and we were ready for more.
Round two it was then, as we ordered from Mexa two veggie tacos and some guacamole and tortilla chips.
The groom-to-be wasn’t done with Mana yet and swooped back in for a whopping chicken block burger which he put away ruthlessly and methodically. A second arancini was orderd from Sushi Kamon as it had been such a favourite before we knocked things on the head with a chilli vegetable momo and Shatta a Toum’s falafel.
This really was top stuff around and I’m already salivating at the prospect of going back.
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