Opera on the menu ... at Gilgamesh in Camden, London
I am in Camden, the hub of London's live music scene, but I'm not here to hear rock but opera, over dinner at Gilgamesh this area's most ostentatious restaurant.
Not the most likely location for opera it's true, but this is the restaurant that set out to "recreate Babylon" to the tune of £16m in the heart of Camden's old Stables Market. The restaurant's teak-carved tables defiantly look out over a row of tenantless railway arches, its lavish roll-back roof opens to the rather less glorious sounds of trains rolling past.
When we arrive the restauant is half full, but then it's a Tuesday night and the place is vast. The food is a pan-Asian mix including sushi, sashimi, dim sum, and Thai curries. We start with some mildly spicy lobster tempura with wasabi sauce while waiting for the opera to start at 8.30pm, when three glamorous Oyster Opera performers sidle between the tables. Diners react with a mixture of appreciation and bemusement. It's a bit like a classy version of those Italian singers who serenade you in holiday restaurants. But it certainly makes a change from the usual grunge guitar riffs you hear in Camden.
Our main course of a delicious aubergine, sweet potato and tofu curry arrives accompanied by Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, stir-fried Asian greens and the creamiest rice I have ever tasted. For dessert we opt for a selection of refreshing, subtly flavoured sorbets to the pleasing sounds of La Bohème. The service is faultless, and the food is excellent but I can't help wondering if this kind of restaurant gimmickry adds to the dining experience or acts as a needless distraction? Themed restaurants are already a hit in other cities, and they are not new here, but do most people enjoy their food with a sideshow or should plain old-fashioned food be enough entertainment in itself?
There is no doubt on what side of the fence Gilgamesh sits: you enter up a carved fresco spiral staircase that lifts you - literally and metaphorically - above the takeaway noodle stalls of the market below. It claims to be London's biggest restaurant, bar and lounge and everything about it - not just size - is designed to impress and create a dining "experience". And it works.
On the flip side is this really the way to make opera more digestible and bring it to the masses, as is the aim? For the price of the special Opera nights menu at £59 per person (which includes five courses and a glass of champagne) you could after all buy a ticket to the real thing. Is opera on the menu your cup of tea or is it best enjoyed strictly in the opera house? Have you been to Gilgamesh? What was your impression?
· Gilgamesh, The Stables Market, Chalk Farm Road, London NW1. gilgameshbar.com; 020 7482 5757
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Opulent opera nights take place every Tuesday. Two 20-minute performances take place 8.30pm and 10.30pm. The set opera menu costs £59 per person. The à la carte menu is also available as normal.
