ikoyi (visit 3)

Experience more of this visit through our video highlights here.

My third time at Ikoyi now and it just gets better and better. Jeremy and his team are constantly evolving. I absolutely am smitten with this place and it’s beautiful ingredients and flavours that my palate has never experienced before. I took a gourmand friend with me who had never been before, so it was lovely to see him equally enchanted by every mouthful.

Gola Pepper Broth, caramalised chicken wings, infused with pepper and finished with gola oil, just delicious, and a perfect start to get my palate ready for all ahead.

Drunken Squid & Fermented Rice. Squid has been confit, marinated in spice, fermented rice toasted, fried combo to finish.

120 day dry aged beef, smoked over charcoal, grilled and smoked onion, black trumpet mushrooms, black truffle, yeasted bernaise, morel butter, in a tartlet. Just wow.

Mussel & Saffron Crème Caramel. Poached razor clams and a savoury beetroot reduction. Always good, I enjoyed this on my last visit too, perfectly balanced and topped with N25 kaluga for that burst of goodness, working harmoniously with everything else.

Scallop & White Penja Peppercorn. Orkney scallop, confit, caramelised, and glazed with honey and mustard. Emulsion made from the skirt and roe. beer braised Maitake mushroom, kojinut soup, Yorkshire rhubarb, hazelnut cream, and pistachio. Just woah. This was insane.

Sorghum Crêpe & Dark Beer Fondue. Grilled sweetbread, grilled octopus, burnt honey, black truffles. This was insanely good, like a dirty delicious savoury pancake, I could quite easily start my day eating this, just yum, loved it, so inventive, so tasty, so very different.

Turbot & Egusi Miso. Perfectly cooked turbot with pork jowl, grilled cabbage, the flavours here were knock out brilliant. Just holy moly. My palate can’t handle this much flavour goodness.

Native Breed Rib, Caramelised Chanterelles & Sauerkraut. Fried skate, roasted mushroom sauce and a Sauerkraut sauce too. A kaffir lime leaf jelly. This mutton was cooked perfectly. So much flavour.

Smoked Jollof Rice, calcot onions, ( sauce to the side was a lobster custard but as it has crab shell it was served separately and I couldn’t have it.) The rice was topped with langoustines as a treat, which was very kind but my goodness we were filling up fast by this stage. Loved it, the glorious spice without taking your face off.

Citrus Babà & Salted Pine. Yum this was heaven. Citrus from the Pyrenees. All different ones. Candied lemon rind. Light, delicate, yet also comforting too. The pine sorbet was excellent.

Flower Sugar ice cream & Red Long Pepper. Malted barley crumb. Almond cookie. Difference coffee, which is always the perfect ending to such a meal.

Benne seed and Miso cookie, Peruvian chocolate 60% cocoa & topped with black truffle, this is like gourmet popcorn to me. The only other thing I have ever eaten that I can compare my love for this was at noma, many years ago, in ant season, whereby they did a reindeer moss that had been deep fried and sprayed with chocolate, this matches that level of yum.

Final thoughts, it just gets better. They need three stars here, will it ever happen? let’s see, I feel like it’s too out there for Michelin, but precisely where they need to be heading to recognise chefs such as Jeremy who are pushing the boundaries and stepping outside what’s traditionally deemed as three star, because it is being executed here, and some. I am back for a very special collaboration with Jeremy and Kristian from Koan next, and I simply cannot wait for that, it’s going to be next level.

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