It has been a long time since I first visited Inamo when they were opened at St James, and this time I had the pleasure of dining with the lovely Marie at the Soho branch on Wardour Street.
Their cuisine is described as a fusion of ideas and flavours around Asia, with influences from Japanese, Thai and Chinese cooking.
The core of Inamo is their interactive ordering system where diners can place their orders from an illustrated food and drinks menu projected onto their table surface. There is also a selection of ‘tablecloths’ that you can change to set the mood, games to keep you entertained, and even an option which enables you to order a taxi. And of course the staff are always available to assist if needed.
We started off with some cocktails – I had the Sol Levante, made with lychee, lemongrass and pomegranate shaken and strained into a flute and topped with prosecco. Marie had the Kodama which was a refreshing combination of gin, rosemary and cucumber, finished with a dash of lychee juice.
The Tuna Tartare was served with a truffle miso sauce. The texture was maybe a bit too mushy for my preference but the flavour wasn’t too bad. I do love crab and ordered the Soft Shell Crab Maki Rolls which had a nice crunchy texture alongside the velvety layers of avocado.
From the selection of Inamo Classics, I chose the Sweet & Sour Sea Bass, which is Inamo’s take on the Chinese classic dish. The sea bass was pan-fried and infused in a tangy sweet and sour sauce, served on a bed of stir-fried mixed vegetables.
Marie had chosen the Claypot Green Chicken Curry which was creamy and fragrant with a very slight hint of spiciness to it.
Both dishes were delicious and went well with the steamed rice.
And of course we finished with some sweet desserts: Crème Brûlée Trio which was a small pot of crème brûlée served with a mango and chocolate mini dessert, and the Mini Dessert Plate which had coconut ice cream with passion fruit and chocolate mini dessert.We were quite full at that point so it was good that the portions were quite small. I liked the chocolate mini dessert, but I think that the crème brûlée was slightly too dense and could have done with more caramelized sugar on top.
Overall, we had a pleasant meal, with the mains being the highlights of the meal for me. Service is fast and efficient, and the interactive concept is an interesting touch that helps to make it stand out from the rest.
I look forward to the new opening of the Covent Garden branch which from what I’ve heard sounds pretty exciting!
The Cheekster, signing out x
The meal was complimentary, but views remain my own.
