When judging a restaurant by its menu, there are a few general truths. Like: the greater the number of cuisine types, the lower the quality of the cooking. And: novelty ingredients are rarely a good sign. Neither, for that matter, is labelling small plates, if they don’t come from Spain, as ‘tapas’. But every so often, a place comes along that stuffs the rule book in the shredder. And that place is Gamma Gamma.
Not only does this Soho spot serve what it calls ‘pan-Asian tapas’ (shudder), it has also put a few safari animals on the menu, like they got lost on the way to Lidl and ended up at the zoo. But it turns out, the chefs here can really cook.
There was a small plate of zebra tataki – served on a striped plate, no less – the rare meat cut into wide, pink-middled bands. If frogs taste like chicken, then zebra tastes like beef. But it had also been prettily arranged with quarters of perfectly judged, soft-centred egg, plus alternate blobs of sriracha jelly and wasabi mayo, giving it the tang and piquancy of a terrific steak tartare. Equally good were strips of well-sauced Filipino-style kangaroo (the meat, again, strangely bovine), with a fried-egg-topped mound of rice.
As it happens, the more prosaic dishes shone brightest of all. Like a fiery and nicely sour Sri Lankan fish curry, fat with juniper and coriander seeds, and a delicate yuzu-and-soy-laced parcel of salmon sashimi, avocado and cucumber. Sure, the setting is a tad Soho-by-numbers (wood floors, exposed bricks, girders) and the crowd a bit touristy. But staff are a delight. And so, in fact, is the food.