The greatest joy of the internet is the ability to find out where the latest and the weirdest is, so when I googled 'exotic foods in London' up popped Archipelago restaurant. One look at the online menu and I knew this was the perfect place for me.
Let me start by telling you this, life is short and we've got to squeeze in as much as we can in a span of a 60/70 years (for me 35 have already gone therefore there is a need to 'hurry') I am not going to look back at my life and say 'oops forgot to do THAT' and this restaurant did cover some of the things which would have made me look back and say 'why didn't I..........'
On a quite street in the West End of London is the Archipelago Restaurant, the entrance is nothing to go by for what waits for you inside, through the green door and a small seating outside, the inside is a riot of colours and objects, Buddha's, painting, plants, a zillion and one bric-a-bracs placed everywhere and the eye doesn't have a second of rest as with every glance the brain registers a new object.
My friends and I are an eccentric mix, out of the four one is French but horror of horrors, a vegetarian!! the other two, one an English non-vegetarian Brahmin and the other converted to non-vegetarianism not so long ago. We settle down and glance through the menu, the names of the dishes are interesting but what really matters are the two liners under them, on offer are Crocodile, Peafowl, Ostrich, Chocolate covered Scorpions, Wildebeest, Locust and Crickets sharing menu space with the more regular duck, chicken, mutton and there are dishes for the 'live and let live' kinds also.
I tell the waiter who is very pleasant and helpful for the "most exotic dishes on the menu" he suggests that we choose from the Ostrich, Croc on a Rock (Crocodile covered in Vine leaves) Wildebeest, the Love Bug Salad (Locusts & Crickets) we ask for each of these, unfortunately the peafowl and scorpion are not available.
The food arrives on our table, the non-vegetarian Brahmin gives a disgusted look as the crocodile and love bug salad are served, the recently turned non-vegetarian is not so sure if he would like to eat here at all and the vegetarian French has an impish smile which says 'This I am going to have fun watching'
The Croc on a Rock is crocodile covered in vine leaves alongwith a sweet sauce
Ostrich
Zebra served with noodles
Widebeest
And then there was the 'Love Bug Salad' Crickets and Locusts, served on a bed of salad leaves and covered with sweet chillie sauce, very crispy and crunchy.
While we were discussing the 'eatability quotient' of our food we heard a lot of 'oohs and aahs' on a table nearby and saw the waiter pouring something out of a bottle, well when that kind of a menu is on offer we had to ask what was in the bottle and the waiter appeared with a bottle of 'Absinthe' with a dead python in it!
Absinthe is an anise flavored drink and amongst the most alcoholic drinks in the world, it is also known as the 'Green Fairy' and this one had a dead snake in it, had to have a sip of that!! The waiter poured a small amount into a small glass and a sip went through like a bolt, felt it go down the food pipe and dissipate in the stomach cavity!
Honestly, the three of us (the fourth was a vegetarian) could only really manage to have a bite of each of the dishes, not because there was something wrong with the food, it was very well prepared and the service was excellent, helpful and courteous but the thought of 'what' it was didn't really allow us to take second bites, so after a lovely evening with great service and excellent food we headed to have a more 'conditioned' dinner of lamb chops.
