London Restaurant Reviews : Gamma Gamma Soho

Disclaimer: I was invited to review the below venue and our meal was complimentary but all opinions and photos are mine.

When Gamma Gamma Soho first entered our Instagram lives, I was quite impressed with the look and feel of this place. Taking over a site formerly occupied by Bó Drake, this newly opened restaurant looked rather promising. Fast forward a few months later, they are still going strong and have recently released a new Spring menu, so we decided to check it out.

In terms of interiors, the decor is quite moody and stylish, with a lounge feel to the space. They have kept some of the original details and features such the unique U-shaped bar with bar stools wrapped around it. The restaurant is ground floor only, whilst the kitchen and facilities are located in the basement.

Towards the rear, they have a cluster of tables in an area that can be easily sectioned off for private hires and corporate bookings.

The walls are festooned with striking art pieces and chill-out lounge music plays in the background.

The design is based on the concept and vision of owner Sakib, realised with the help LXA Architects. Sakib swapped his career in Economics and Finance to move into hospitality full time. He, alongside his business partner, have a diverse portfolio of restaurants that also includes Yaki Ya Grill at Bang Bang Oriental that specialises in Halal Japanese.

The menu is designed in two halves to cater to a wider spectrum of audience. On one hand, we have Authentic Asia, featuring some of the more traditional, familiar options for those wishing to go for something more conventional. On the other side of the spectrum is Modern Asia, featuring more imaginative and exotic Asian fusion dishes.

They also have a new cocktails menu to complement these dishes, made by their super-friendly mixologist Miro. We tried an Asian Plum Spritz that contained two of my favourite ingredients: Gin and Prosecco. It came garnished with thyme and peach and had a sparkling zing to it. If you are looking for a drink that looks and feels irresistibly innocent going down but leaves you a bit heady the next day, this is the one!

Kris tried a yet-to-be-named cocktail (suggestions welcome) which was again gin-based. It came with agave, passionfruit (juice and pureed) and fresh lemon, as well as a cucumber garnish. It was very enjoyable and refreshing, not too sweet and with real tropical flavours; exactly the sort of thing you want coming up to the warmer summer months. Again, it was one of those cocktails that one could quite easily drink a few of and get nicely hammered.

From the starters we tried the Korean Fried Chicken | Tender crispy chicken pieces, Gochujang & Maple Glaze which had some tangy, fiery flavours enough to wake up your senses. The good news is that it comes boneless so no messy hands, perfect for date night. The chicken was superbly crispy with just the right amount of sweet and fiery flavours. They went down very well alongside the cocktails.

Most impressive was a radiant vegan dish of Patakon | Crispy Plantain, Banana Blossom Adobo – it was a riot of colours, textures and flavours on a plate. It was uniquely and unusually delicious, a very textural dish with some real kick-ass flavours. A really interesting and exciting, very well put together vegan dish that can make one easily forget their love of meat. We both really enjoyed it.

Perhaps slightly out of place (in my opinion anyway) but spectacular nevertheless was this Smoked Burrata | Charred Nectarines, Mizuna, Grilled watermelon, Puffed Tapioca, Thai Sweet Basil & Cashew Nut Pesto. It was a prettily plated, nice cold dish, perfect for hot summer months.

From the mains, a traditional dish of Steamed Sea bass will always be a winner with us. It was fragrant and aromatic with a big hunk of seabass, meticulously dressed with fresh and fiery herbs and classically paired with steamed Thai Jasmine Rice on the side. The only minor sticking point was that Kris detected a few bones.

We loved the Soft Shell Crab Burger | Nam Prik Num, Homemade Kimchee, Sweet Potato Fries – that came bursting from inside a charcoal brioche bun. It was quite crispy and crunchy on the inside. The crab meat came through more clearly as you dug in. The sweet potatoes fries were confident little sidekicks but the scene stealer was the dinky little bowl of dip; quite zesty and peppery.

Overall, there are some really creative, imaginative and good-looking dishes coming out from the kitchen of Gamma Gamma. You can clearly see that there is a seasoned chef working behind the scenes. The ingredients are not just thrown together but each dish has been thoughtfully created. Staff are young, chatty and on the ball. Drinks are cohesive with the food menu and the general theme of the place. As big time foodies, we were naturally drawn to the more adventurous side of the menu but both versions had fairly compelling dishes.