Following its hugely successful launch in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, Dinner Time Story has arrived in London, taking over the top floor of TT Liquor in Shoreditch.
So what exactly IS Dinner Time Story?
We’d been promised a journey around the world with the world’s smallest chef which certainly piqued our interest but didn’t exactly explain things.
In reality, we assembled at 9pm for our ‘briefing’ and were given a coloured bauble which indicated our pre-selected meal choices. We were to dine on one large sharing table and left to find our place names. Huge blank books were distributed and once everyone was seated and the lights dimmed, the show began.
Marco Polo was the name of our tiny chef and narrator for the evening and with the use of projectors, his image appears to turn the page taking us on a journey across continents. Set along the famous Silk Road, the experience took us on a journey from Marseilles to Arabia, India, the Himalayas and China, with food interspersed between the slides.
You’re given plenty of time to eat and each dish comes with a drinks pairing included in the price. Each course is imaginatively presented, in various boxes and trays but apart from the main course that we’d pre-selected, bites were small. Our Arabic course included three canapes – smoked aubergine filo cup, lamb tagine croquette and a chicken kebbeh and was served with a gin based cocktail with mint and honey. Delicious, but we could have eaten a whole box of them. There’s a choice of caramelised honey and ginger duck, miso cod and Szechuan tofu for the main event, which you’ve guessed it – happens to take place in China. Dessert was every bit as theatrical as you’d expect, making use of dry ice for even more drama.
We don’t want to give too much away but our favourite section was when the whole table turned into the deep blue sea – complete with sharks.
There are a choice of two slots, either 7pm or 9pm. we were on the 9pm sitting but would recommend the earlier one as we didn’t get out until gone midnight – pretty late for a school night.
If we’re honest we felt the price tag was a little steep for the quality and quantity of food we received. However it really is fair to say it was a completely unique experience and the show side of things was really impressive. We can see it doing well if you’re able to stick it on the company card. It would make a great Christmas party or would be a really special place to take a client.
Tickets, priced at £95 are available at www.dinnertimestory.com
