I have been looking forward to visit Carousel in London. I love the concept of having guest chefs every two weeks, sharing cuisine from all over the world and be inspired by innovative chefs!
The place holds a little more than 30 dinners. The interior gives an impression of rustic, homey and filled with wooden chairs and long dining tables. Long string lamps hanging on the ceiling over the dining tables makes me feel extra cozy and warm. At Carousel, all diners seat at two community tables so you get to know new people, after all communication makes up part of a great meal.
What's more excited is, I'm lucky to have chef Jeremy Chan at Carousel at the moment. iKyoi is a soon-to-open African restaurant in London. iKoyi is hugely influenced by the Nigerian and Senegalese cuisine, and in fact my first ever West African influenced dining experience. Let's step right into the fun and delicious food!
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| Plantain, Scotch Bonnet, Raspberry powder |
Perfectly crispy the outside and gooey plantain the inside, most important no soggy middle. Heard so much about scotch bonnet but had never tried it. Today I get to try it and immediately fallen in love! The tapioca based emulsion is hit with right amount of scotch bonnet for a fiery kick. It is delicious with the deep fried plantain. A very nice start introducing the chef's cooking and indicates a beginning of an African journey.
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| Octopus Efo, Toasted Cassava |
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| Crispy tail of Octopus |
Octopus being one of the most difficult seafood to perfection. I often get disappointed. However this dish is absolutely top of the class. The 'Efo' is what surprised me, perfect balance of spices and bursting with flavours! Me and my family jokes about the Efo tastes like Chinese 梅菜扣肉 (Meigan cai cooked with meat) - Meigan cai is a kind of salted chinese cabbages or mustard greens - with the addition of traditional Chinese ingredients 豆鼓 (Douchi) - fermented black soybean that are used to flavour a lot of Chinese dishes.
The octopus is served on a fermented rice masa airy 'cake', it is another favourite of mine. The whole combination is a stunner. The nastacuin leaves gives a little citrusy and 'pop' to our taste bud.
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| Pepper Soup |
Very rich in flavour but clear as a french consume. What makes this special is that chef Jeremy has used the which is known as traditional Chinese cuisine which brings out strong mushroomy flavour. It contrasts with some citrusy taste herbs and mini-size-veg.
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| Mackerel, Tiger Nut Milk, |
The mackerel is not what I expected to be, I don't like the fish personally. It's not define enough, especially the temperature which is what I found not too pleasant about. It's kind of cold but not so..I know it sounds ridiculous that's why I don't really like the fish itself. If you have seen my previous recipes posts, you probably know I have slight obsession on tiger nut. The Tiger nut milk is delicious, silky smooth, sweet and goes well with the mackerel.
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| Beef Suya, Condiments |
On to the main! Beef brushed with crayfish butter is cooked to perfection. Definitely another spot light of the meal. The condiment taste amazing! Best spices blend I have ever tasted. It really lifts this dish to another level, I believe Chef Jeremy has added dried crayfish 'miso' (the brain) to the condiments which is brilliant!
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| Curry leaf, Strawberries, Grain of Paradise |
Dessert is curry leaf ice cream with a semi soft meringue and some strawberries underneath. Curry leaf ice cream is light and refreshing however the meringue is too sweet for my taste.
