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London,
Fay Maschler's rating
Reader rating
Phone: 020 7837 2222
Open: Restaurant open for dinner Tues-Sat, 7pm-midnight (1am Fri and Sat).
Animal crackers: David Jones, head chef of the temporary Double Club
In 2006, in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern, Carsten Höller showed what happens when art meets funfair. At The Double Club, a restaurant/installation designed to live for six months, he investigates the meeting of art and food — and, to an unavoidable extent, politics. Belgian-born Höller, with sponsorship from Fondazione Prada and the restaurant know-how of Mourad Mazouz, is putting the food, music and culture of the Congo side-by-side with the West. It is not fusion but a deliberate juxtaposition, or you could say clash, with the aim of stimulating awareness. And having fun.
Housed in an old warehouse behind Angel Tube station — apparently previously used for paintballing, which will surely soon be identified as art — the double-identity bar is a lofty open space with chic cocktail bar and high stools standing back-to-back with a ramshackle wooden counter under a corrugated tin roof and advertisement-plastered plastic garden furniture dotted around. Arcs of neon, Congolese beer bottle logos, a wall decorated with Portuguese tiles depicting the utopian apartment blocks of 1920s Russian architect Georgi Krutikov and an oil drum barbecue are other elements in the “experience”.
Friendly staff encouraged us to hang around in the bar, which we did for a while until noise drove us into the calmer restaurant area with its red banquettes, Andy Warhol pictures and tidier personality. The menu is divided between Congolese and western cooking, the difference emphasised by a change of typeface. Congolese is cheaper and in the context more appealing. There is no division of courses and dessert is a concept that has passed them by.
My friend Maureen — who later whispered to me, “Fay, we are not their target audience”, which I thought was rather cheeky — and I chose to share kossa kossa, fumbwa, goat stew and chicken bouakee with side dishes of fried plantain, rice and chikwange which, if this enlightens you, is manioc paste cooked in Marantacee leaves. Reg stoically stuck to the western way, starting with prawns with spiced mayonnaise followed by line-caught halibut cooked on the bone served with tartare sauce.
Three giant shrimps in a spicy sauce (kossa kossa) reminded me of eating in beach bars in Goa, the spicing being more interesting than warm water shellfish. Yam leaves cooked in peanut paste with smoked salted fish (fumbwa) was delicious, with a slippery texture and shiny face not unlike Caribbean callaloo but with an engaging turmoil of flavours. Goat stew served in, and probably cooked in, a banana leaf was diverting in a way that eluded the braised chicken, which had that sort of thin, whining sauce where tomatoes are often the culprits. Fried plantains are an ideal side dish as their fugitive sweetness is a foil to the salty/bitter flavours.
The western food chosen was OK but seemed, perhaps predictably, dull and timid beside the Congolese dishes. Apple tarte Tatin was not a great example of that happy accident that befell the Tatin sisters, and Valrohna chocolate moelleux was a confection that a supermarket near you can emulate. Organic goat’s milk ice cream served alongside gave it a bit of distinction.
No reasonably aware person can be ignorant of the horrors currently being perpetrated in what Joseph Conrad called “The Heart of Darkness”. The current humanitarian crisis in the Congo casts a pall on the proceedings and has been the reason for the change of name from the original Prada Congo Club to The Double Club. A subtext that is probably not the province of a restaurant review is the action of the self-styled Combattants de Londres in preventing musicians from the Congo playing in Europe. It comes as a relief to discover that profits of the venture are being donated to the Unicef charity City of Joy, which assists rape victims.
As we left, we looked into the dance hall, just warming up, where strobe lights were muddling the delineation between Congo and West. Let’s hope.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
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The Double Club was a severe disapointment, I was expecting some real African culture but that was not what we found. The food is over priced and poor quality, the staff look down their noses at you and beware of dressing in Congolese clothing as you will be thrown out for daring to be in "fancy dress"
- Art_Grad, London
Beware. Everything really is double, even the bill!!!
I went to the double club recently after a pricey meal came the bill. The transaction when through as normal and was about to leave. When the waiter came back and said that the transaction had not gone through and could I pay again. I was certain this was not the case so as for the receipt to prove it. I showed him that the receipted said that I had completed the transaction and the payment was process fine. The argument got more heated and in the end I gave in and paid again, but took both receipts. And sure enough I was charged twice for the hefty meal. What a joke.
SO WARNING TO EVERYONE. HAVE A GOOD TIME BY ALL MEANS BUT DOUBLE CHECK YOUR RECIEPT!
- Ash, London
Nice art, but not good value at all. I would suggest you go to have a look round,(it's free to get in), and perhaps try one of the cocktails, but stay away from the food.The congolese dishes all tasted very similar, and was really too spicy and full of fish bones. My friend ate from the western menu, and the food went to the other extreme, being over-simplified and expensive for what it was. I think we paid around £15 for a small piece of Halibut. It was well cooked, but when the bill came it was around £100 for the two of us, and we hadn't even had a bottle of wine! They even charged us for the bread. Congolese food at west end prices in the middle of a recession? You're better off saving your money.
- Olivia Knight, London
Went last Saturday to the restaurant food was very good also good mix of food, staff very friendly and good vibe -will be back
- Ryan Twigg, London
Went to the restaurant last week & enjoyed fantastic friendly service & great food. The night was finished in the 'Club' - A great night to remember ......
- Tjiang Kim Seng, London
