Ikoyi, one of London’s most beloved – and expensive – two Michelin-starred restaurants, is launching an exclusive tasting menu with Uber Eats.
As part of the Uber Eats Hosts series, executive chef Jeremy Chan has curated a five-course delivery tasting menu, available for just two days via Uber Eats.
“It sparked my interest because it’s very different from what I usually do,” says Chan. “We have a 28-seat restaurant, we’re extremely detailed and have a very artistic, personal type of cuisine. We put our whole soul into every day, and I thought giving people a taste of that at home would be an interesting challenge.”
Drawing inspiration from the signature dishes available on Ikoyi’s £320 [$399] tasting menu, the £60 [$75] Uber Eats menu offers something very different to the average delivery feast.
“We do a rice dish with lobster custard, and we’re doing one for Uber Eats with crab custard which is still very complex and difficult to make, but travels better,” he says. “I’m very excited for people to try that dish at home.”
The full menu contains mutton merguez sausage (“it’s labor intensive!”) with a green goddess slaw, fried chicken with smoked scotch bonnet & raspberry, jollof rice and crab custard, suya tamari pork with mustard greens & kumquat (Chan’s personal favorite dish), and a flower sugar cake with batak berry & Garigette strawberry.
An optional drinks pairing will also be also available, featuring two cocktails (Pedro’s Elixir and Timur and Tea Gimlet) as well as Chapman (a palate-cleansing soft drink) and an Eko Gold.
As the second launch in Uber Eats Hosts series, the company is solidifying a unique sell for fine dining enthusiasts. In December 2023, the app launched a £200 [$249] two-person tasting menu in partnership with similarly double-Michelin-starred Welsh restaurant Ynyshir, which chef Gareth Ward said felt like the perfect way to bolster the restaurant’s marketing–and business.
“I reckon I could make more money by closing my restaurant and sending meals to people,” Chan laughs, when I raise the same idea with him. “The cost of running a restaurant is insane and I think having a satellite kitchen and not having to do service – it makes a lot of sense.
“Delivery food is a very strong business proposition, and I see it more and more in London. Some restaurants I like are starting to do delivery and they’re doing very, very well,” he says.
“I mean, I had a delivery the other day and it was £70, which is a lot of money for delivery, but I’m thinking ‘it kind of beats getting up and cooking when you’re tired!’”
Last year, the restaurant reached number 35 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurant List.
“The restaurant is quite a beast,” he admits. “I’m the chef-owner of the restaurant but I’m still doing all the butchery, making sauces and cleaning – I’m very involved.”
Being so hands-on, he says, comes at a cost. Chan rarely has time to commit to projects outside of Ikoyi, no matter how good they might be for business. “My hands aren’t really free and most projects are too much of a workload to add to my daily, kind of, struggle.”
Still, he assures me with confidence, it’s all worth it. “I think some people may look at us and think ‘oh, it’s elitist’. Our tasting menu might be the most expensive in the city, but what we do is deliver the best. And give a lot of it. You get what you pay for, and I’m very proud of it.
“But, you know, I’m pretty pooped,” he smirks, “so sometimes it’s all about the takeaway.”