Whether you’re seeking the healthy reassurance of a salmon poke bowl, the juicy, fulfilling mass of a triple cheeseburger, or the soothing embrace of an extra deep bowl of pho, each time any one of us orders a takeaway we desire the same thing: convenience.
Boasting two Michelin stars and holding the title of 35th best restaurant on earth (according to the 2023 World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards), the last thing one might associate with Ikoyi is convenience – especially considering there is a two month waiting list for a table, and the menu is priced upwards of £200 per person.
As part of its ongoing quest for world domination (er, only joking), the team at Uber Eats HQ have asked Jeremy Chan, chef patron of the faintly West African inspired restaurant, to design a five course menu which will be available to order on the app on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 May for £60 per person, with the option to add a drinks pairing for an additional £25.
The ongoing project (which has also seen the brand collaborate with Ynyshir and Brooklyn Beckham) is all about accessibility, says the delivery giant’s head of delivery communications, Hermione, as we sit down to try what Ikoyi will be offering. ‘We want to bring really special experiences to people who can’t normally access them.’
Admittedly, we are not lounging in our tatty pyjamas on my sofa in Turnpike Lane, but in Ikoyi’s private dining room, where Chan is mere metres away. When it comes to crunch time, though, the chef says he will be working from a service kitchen near Charlotte street, plating 40 meals per day and placing them in recyclable cardboard ‘tiffin tins’ for delivery within a three mile radius.
Placing down the first dish, Chan says the menu has been created ‘using the same produce we have in the restaurant and all the same inspirations for the current menu, but maybe just a little more playful.’
Balanced with the crunch of bitter radicchio, a drizzle of green goddess sauce and a dollop of sweet, chunky, almost tropical piccalilli, dense, smooth slices of barbecued merguez mutton sausage are spiced with a complex, comforting warmth that I can’t quite put my finger on – but bring the same joy as a rare gleam of sunshine on your face.
For seconds, Chan’s hefty, succulent KFC inspired fried chicken coated in a tangy ‘raspberry salt’ (made by drying the fruit, whizzing it into a powder and adding a dash of spice) and served with a smoked scotch bonnet emulsion should give the Colonel serious cause for concern – while the accompanying lavender pickle cleanses the palette, rather than clogging it with the perfumed, nana-style scent one might expect.
Studded with generous heaps of chunky, sugar cured shrimp and topped with a silken ‘crab custard’, the creamy, risotto-esque smoked jollof rice has the table beadily eyeing every last grain. Meanwhile, butter-soft char siu inspired Tamworth pork belly in a suya-tamari glaze (think peanuts, ginger, cayenne, and a soy-like sauce) with braised mustard greens, a rich, almost chocolatey smoked aubergine sauce and preserved kumquats could put Three Uncles out of business.
In all honesty, I was ready to Netflix and snooze by the fifth and final course, but the steamed sponge cake with a caramelised top, strawberries and batak berry (that’s a type of pepper, FYI) whipped cream, was a considered, featherlight delight, filling me to the brim with almost uncomfortable comfort – as any good takeaway should.
Will it travel well? Only time and the look on your delivery driver’s face will tell. But what I can tell you is: I’d eat this off of a cardboard plate any day.
