{"id":17939,"date":"2017-11-11T15:00:38","date_gmt":"2017-11-11T15:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=17939"},"modified":"2017-11-11T15:00:38","modified_gmt":"2017-11-11T15:00:38","slug":"save-or-splurge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/save-or-splurge\/","title":{"rendered":"Save or Splurge?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_18266\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2017\/11\/DS_gallery_3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18266\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18266\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2017\/11\/DS_gallery_3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"707\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-18266\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gallery room &#8211; Sketch London<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">With a new wave of modern restaurants taking over the London culinary scene, food has become less of a meal and more of an experience. Food culture has steered away from traditional steak and jus, and has become a stage show filled with culinary foam, dry-ice filled cocktails and new takes on a classic bisque.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">At the forefront of the London restaurant scene, <a href=\"http:\/\/sketch.london\/\">Sketch<\/a> has been all the rage. Found in the heart of central London, the restaurant takes food and reinvented it with quirky techniques. From the second you enter the building, you&#8217;re greeted with a hopscotch drawing that leads you to a room filled with pink chairs and illustrations; It is a child\u2019s dream tailored for adults. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">But is it still dining? The finest of dining perhaps. With Sketch\u2019s grand decor and delicious food, this restaurant combines art and experience in a cohesive manner. David Shrigley, Turner Prize nominated and Fourth Plinth commissioned artist pushes the boundaries of art and experience. Throughout the dining room, there are 239 illustrations on the walls as an ode to Shrigley\u2019s humour.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Dining at Sketch is not just about dinner, it is an experience of Michelin star food, combined with art and modern decor. The best part of this quirky restaurant is the ceramic tableware. On every plate there is a phrase hidden under the food that can only be found if you lick your plate clean, one of them was \u201can empty plate.\u201d Other plates have illustrations of famous roads in central London, and teacups that have the phrase \u201cforget about it\u201d inside the cup.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18190\" style=\"width: 988px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-10-at-3.43.12-pm.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18190\" class=\"wp-image-18190 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2017\/11\/Screen-Shot-2017-11-10-at-3.43.12-pm.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"978\" height=\"850\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-18190\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image: Sketch.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">As if the gallery room and entrance hallway wasn\u2019t enough, Sketch is more famously known for their futuristic pod like bathrooms. Located in a room full of colourful lights these massive eggs are a different way to use the loo for sure.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17963\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2017\/11\/toilets-at-sketch.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17963\" class=\"wp-image-17963 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2017\/11\/toilets-at-sketch.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"401\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-17963\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The futuristic toilets Image: Ohsosweetbaker.wordpress.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The food however, was the star of the show. For an appetizer, I had\u00a0the Chantilly Lace which was black rice, basmati rice, red pepper and wasabi in a lobster bisque. It was <em>divine<\/em><strong>. <\/strong>The bisque was drizzled on table side as I tried to contain my excitement. For dinner, I had\u00a0the wild-sea bass,\u00a0poached in a scented butter and it was both succulent and flavourful. Every bite of the fish had me going, \u2018oh my god\u2019 so much, it stirred the curiosity of the table next to me. Although the serving sizes seemed to be small, they were perfect for a person with a moderate appetite. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">There were still notes of art throughout all of the dishes which were visually stunning, yet quirky with different illustrations on it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18262\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2017\/11\/IMG_7584.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18262\" class=\"wp-image-18262 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2017\/11\/IMG_7584-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"740\" height=\"494\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-18262\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The lobster bisque I swooned over Image: Apearlkindofgirl.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The only problem with this restaurant is the price. There is a wide choice of food, the average customer spends about \u00a350 without service charge. So you really need to ask yourself, am I paying for the food or am I paying for an experience that I can not get at another restaurant? The truth is, it\u2019s always going to be the latter. However, when visiting a two Michelin star restaurant, do you really except it to be cheap?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">For an occasion, it\u2019s certainly worth the splurge. Where else are you going to find a futuristic pod to pee in, a crazy jungle theme, a hopscotch drawing and a pink room full of bad jokes? I certainly only know one place. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Words: Tooba Haq | Subbing: Melina Zachariou<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With a new wave of modern restaurants taking over the London culinary scene, food has become less of a meal and more of an experience. Food culture has steered away from traditional steak and jus,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":476,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,56],"tags":[1736,2012,2014,2558,3010,3788,3794,3820,3823,3824,4150,4152,4699,5097,5199,5245,5666,5668,6299,6300,6753,6755],"class_list":["post-17939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-food","tag-david-shrigley","tag-eating-in-london","tag-eatoutlondon","tag-futuristic-pods","tag-hopscoth-drawings","tag-london-eating","tag-london-food-diaries","tag-londoneating","tag-londonfinedining","tag-londonfood","tag-michelenstar","tag-michelinstarfoodinlondon","tag-oxford-street","tag-quirky-restraunt-to-go-to-in-london","tag-regent-street","tag-restaurant","tag-sketch-london","tag-sketchlondonrestraunt","tag-thegallery","tag-thegallerysketch","tag-voice-of-london","tag-voice-of-london-food"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17939\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}