Archipelago Restaurant, Fitzrovia, London

Although I balked at eating most of the exotica,
its a fascinating place to visit where you can - if
braver than me - eat crocodile, kangaroo,zebra, frogs
legs or even chocolate covered scorpion:
Hell's kitchen indeed!
but the cocktails are delish .....

What an amazingly fun night out!
Crocodile, Wildebeast, Kangaroo and really yummy cocktails. The staff were really lovely if a little slow at times but in a room that feels like someone has emptied an ethnic bazzar into your front room it was not a chore waiting.
The food was as exotic and mentioned on their site and by the friend who recomended the place to us. The food was prepared well - not the greatest food you will ever eat but the novelty factor and the adventure meant it was still spectacular. Strangely for two carnivores like myself and hubby we enjoyed the vegetable and vegetarian dishes best. I was also pleased to have enjoyed the crocodile having been very wary after crocodile stew on a boat in Cuba!
Do order the cocktails and a Visit from the Doctor is an amusing end to a fun and intereesting evening.

Archipelago is definitely a restaurant for the adventurous and one of my favourite places in London. The eclectic decor features pieces from all over the world and I dream to be able to decorate the house in the same style one day! We went as part of the London Restaurant Week promotion, our menu arrived in a scroll! The crocodile for starters was delicious, so tender and it really does taste like chicken! The main course was a slightly less unusual curry, but still delicious. I ordered the baby bee brulee for desert and, once you got over the crunching sound that the bees wings made as you chewed them, the dish was also incredible. I would also recommending paying the extra and ordering a visit from the doctor after your meal. I don't want to ruin the experience and give too much away, but if you like your alcohol just as unusual as your food then this is one for you!

This is one of my favourite restaurants in London, and having had 3 really great experiences here I can't wait to go back again!

Eating here feels like an adventure: the menus arrive in scrolls, the interior is like an explorers tent, and they serve a great selection of unusual dishes. I really like the crocodile to start and the kangaroo is by far the best main course on the menu.

The cocktails are very strong but incredibly tasty - they're also pretty pricey too!

I would heartily recommend finishing your meal with a "visit from the doctor": a theatrical shot served at your table with a few suprises!

This is a memorable setting for a meal. The decor is amazing and the service friendly and relaxed.

The menu is fairly exotic, but in reality very approachable. I had crocodile which was OK, I am sure they could do this dish better. We all had great fun ordering and trying each other dishes, the curry was amazing as was the Kangaroo.

I would certainly go back.

We went as part of London Restaurant Week which was £25 for three courses, and I was pleasantly surprised to see some of their signature dishes on the reduced menu instead of the usual pork belly that you see everywhere - however, some of the more exotic dishes (crocodile, kangaroo) carried a surcharge of a couple of pounds each. When you add service and a bottle of wine it came to £96 for two, probably saving £30 by using the offer.
The food was interesting and there was plenty of random stuff to look at in the restaurant, if I came again I wouldn’t order any sides and I’d avoid the chocolate pudding that comes with curry flavoured ice-cream!

Searching for somewhere adventurous and a little different to eat in London is a lot harder than I would have thought considering the thousands of restaurants at my finger-tips. Archipelago, just near Warren Street, is definitely up there for adventure and uniqueness from the ingredients the restaurant serves to the decor that surrounds your eating experience.

My first encounter with the quirkiness of this restaurant was a phone call that I received confirming my reservation. Yes its not unusual to get a confirmation call but the fact that I was supplied with a passcode for use when I turned up at the restaurant later that night was definitely not something that I’ve come across before.

Stepping into the restaurant James and I were simply wowed by the decor - when you first step into the restaurant you find yourself standing on pebbles which you can’t help but look at and then when you lift your head the decor hits you: Crazy bits and pieces of artefacts, statues, buddhas, art, bird and butterfly cages and peacock feathers surrounded us and seemed to take up every bit of available space in the restaurant. The theming of the restaurant goes all the way down to the presentation of their menus and the tables. For example, the wine menu comes in a giant bamboo tube, the cocktail menu in a cool photo frame and the food menu on a treasure map type paper rolled up and tied by a flower and inside a mini-treasure chest.

The menu offers a wide range of exotic and unusual ingredients. Our focus was on the meats and at the time we went it included: Croc, Peacock, Duck, Tilapia, Zebra, Wildebeest (gnu), Kangaroo, Frog, Locust, Bee and Scorpion.

There were a couple of other dishes which we didn’t try as we’d both had variants of the meat before such as the kangaroo and gnu dishes but I’d be keen to come back and try again (on a special occasion though just for price reasons.)

The service at the restaurant was impeccable (apart from the constant trying to bump up the bill like offering you canapes, bread and palette cleansers.) The staff were quite knowledgeable and took the time to explain each dish as they were served.

Overall I was very impressed with this restaurant - not only was the food good but it was actually a fun experience with the sharing of food and laughing at what you were eating. It should have been gimicky and therefore disappointing but surprisingly the food was of very good quality and it shows that the chefs also take it seriously. Price-wise its a little hefty (at about £55 each including one drink each) and your portions are not gigantic by any stretch of the imagination. Still you should expect to pay a premium to be able to have this experience. My advice is to save it for a special occasion or to impress/entertain.

Weird and wonderful food! Beetle salads, a crazy selction of meats from zebra, crocodile and bison all served and cooked wonderfully.

Very cosy little restaurant which feels more like a shop with all the decor on the table and scattered around for sale. It’s not cheap, but as all the food cannot be found elsewhere the premium has to be paid.

Friendly owner and great atmosphere.

If you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary (or if you just have something against exotic animals), Archipelago is an interesting alternative to the standard menu. Tucked away behind Warren St tube (and suspiciously close to the London Zoo), Archipelago serves up a variety of meats that you probably won’t find at your local Tesco. Our table ordered a bit of everything, including zebra, wilder beast, kangaroo, and a bit of tilapia for the less adventurous. The kangaroo was the winner, hands-down, with the wilderbeast coming in a close second. The texture and flavour of the different animals were a constant topic of discussion, with the zebra being the most contested dish. Either you love it or you hate it, though it appeared that the flavour is drastically different dependent on whether it is well cooked. Overall, a fun experience to have but I wouldn’t recommend going too often, especially considering the price tag (we ended up paying about 60p/p).

Hidden away in the backstreets behind Tottenham Court Road, Archipelago try at all times to be a bit different from the norm. From the password you are give at booking time, to the unique sets of cutlery that each place setting has, to the wax sealed scroll that is your menu, it’s all a bit special.

The food is also a bit different, with a signature salad of locusts and crickets in the middle of the menu and chocolate scorpions at the end, the gaps are filled with interesting meats, fish and veggies from around the world and dishes that you won’t find together on a menu anywhere else.

The service is attentive, the food is good and the whole experience is that - an experience. It’s pricy, but definitely worth it.

The “Visit from the Doctor” is especially random…

This place is tucked off a road near Warren Street tube station, and if you’re feeling adventurous or just looking for out of the ordinary cuisine, this is the place to try! They serve exotic and unusual delicacies from around the world, including kangaroo, crocodile, frogs’ legs, and my dessert included a bee! The staff are friendly and knowledge, we needed an explanation of some of the ingredients on the menu and they knew their stuff. It‘s also worth mentioning that the exotic meats on offer are not from endangered species, or taken irresponsibly from the wild. The décor is eclectic and it feels like every surface is covered in ornate statues, decorations, flowers and lanterns, we were even sitting on thrones at our table! Expensive? Yes, but if you’re looking for a totally unique experience, trying food that you’d be hard pushed to find somewhere else, there no better place.