Dining Spotlight
The epic tale of north London’s pan-Asian superrestaurant, Gilgamesh
LONDON
Black Grain
“IT WILL BE REALLY HEALTHY, I promise, because black rice is the new sushi,” said a friend suggesting dinner that evening. Hardly a selling point you’d think when heading out for a celebratory meal – let alone when it’s meant to be quite a cool, if gigantic, hangout as the pan-Asian restaurant behemoth Gilgamesh happens to be. Hmm, a rice dish that is very good for you – I’ll pass that one, thanks. But actually Gilgamesh’s special black rice menu is as yummy as it is healthy.
It was respected chef Ian Pengelly – he ran an eponymous restaurant in Sloane Street before upping sticks to Camden Market, the opposite end of London both metaphorically and literally – who decided to make this underused staple the hero of the menu.
“It’s low GI (glycaemic index) and so is great for keeping up energy levels for a longer period than certain other carbs, as well as being high in protein,” Pengelly tells me. “But actually the main reason I’ve used it in so many ways is that its nutty texture holds up to loads of different dishes – and just because it’s tasty.”
While certain kinds of wild rice have included black rice, usually it’s only so dark when cooked with squid ink. Here, though, Pengelly proves that Asian black rice works in dishes as diverse as sushi with sweet tofu and pickled daikon (£10; pictured right) and an excellent risotto with king crab and truffle oil (£12).
This looks to be a trend that’s set to stay – and depending on customer feedback could even be extended past the summer. Black rice pudding anyone? Robina Dam
Gilgamesh, Camden Stables Market, Chalk Farm Road, London NW1, +44 (0)20 7482 5757; www.gilgameshbar.com
