Across our two years, we've covered off or touched on almost every genre of gadget imaginable. One thing we'd yet to do however was step into the world of restaurant reviews. However, a geek's got to eat.

Now, almost any restaurant in London is taking a risk inviting PI & I to try them out. PI has some pretty severe food intolerances and I'm a reasonably accomplished, albeit amateur chef with high standards. However Inamo, the Pan Asian ("Oriental fusion" to me) restaurant in Wardour Street, London showed no fear. For a moment, I forgot all about their food because when it comes to offering something out of the ordinary, Inamo had it nailed.

Walking in to the cool low lit interior I was immediately fascinated with the range of tables before me. Each and every one displayed a different 'cloth' - think attractive 'screen saver' projected from above on to your table and voila, you're getting an idea. Better yet, when shown to our table, we were then taken through quite an extraordinary demonstration of the technology that would discreetly accompany our meal.
In the lower right corner of each table there's a small recess, not dissimilar to those found on aircraft trays to place your coffee. However, rather than secure your cocktail in this, it's a cleverly designed 'mouse', from which you can access a full array of services - from ordering your menu (each dish is image projected onto your table pre-order so you can see what you're about to eat), comprehensive drinks list from a sublime cocktails range to a mouthwatering selection of Sakes, Soft Drinks & Beers. You can pull up a Tube Map, order a Taxi post-meal, check out other events in the area, even link into the Kitchen Webcam (a personal favourite) or to PI's delight, play... Battleships!

Ordering our cocktails, I continued to play about with the interactive table so it was PI who noted with some real satisfaction that our drinks arrived in under 5 minutes. We tried each others and sat back with a grin. If the food was anywhere near as good as these, then we were in for a great night.

Frankly, I wasn't expecting the food to surpass the gadget angle. I've spent far too many years eating in restaurants where the focus on the gimmick angle has overridden the food but Inamo was a delightful surprise. Providing PI with a menu showing her what dishes accommodated her food intolerances (the restaurant deals with Gluten Free, Lactose Intolerance, Shell Fish Allergies etc) PI was able to order with confidence and enjoyment. I sampled all of her dishes and again found the quality to be exceptional. There was no shirking the quality because of her intolerance. Two small dishes and one mains later, we were comfortably full and revelling in the quality, not to mention presentation.
At one point, having ordered lamb and being presented with three succulent but sizeable lamb chops, I looked at Eddie our waiter and my rather slimline chopsticks and enquired quite how he recommended I tackle them. With mischievous aplomb, Eddie recommended I use my fingers, conveying this with such flair that he left us both grinning.
Deciding to share a dessert & a small Sake to complete our evening, it was, no pun intended, the cherry atop of the icing. Again, often restricted because of her food intolerances, PI found she had a wide range of desserts to chose from and our final choice, the Vanilla Creme Brulee was exquisite.

Speaking with the staff, we learnt that Inamo had more than ample capacity to cater for private events and indeed to adjust the gadgetry to reflect the occasion. Companies could tailor the table 'screen savers' to their logo's or couples could have 'Happy Birthday' etc incorporated. I asked if anyone had used the technology to propose yet? No, not yet.

Finally, all that was left to do before PI blew a gasket from impatience, was play battleships. Two games and we both left, 1-1.
I ignored the pleas for 'best of three' ;-)
(as I write this, she's still saying "I can't believe you did that!")

All-in-all, if you're a geek or want to treat a geek, Inamo is the place to go. Between you & I, even if you're not a geek but want a good excuse to go out & sample a great restaurant, book!

Check out www.inamo-restaurant.com/ for more information, or to book online