Restaurant of the Future?

I’ve been to a few restaurants trialing table-based electronic payment systems, but London’s Inamo restaurant has taken the high tech restaurant concept to the next level. At this Oriental restaurant, you can sit down, browse through an interactive menu, and place your order without needing a server.

What’s really different about their system is that there are no embedded screens or small computer devices placed on the table. Everything is projected from above. When you sit down, the table is activated. After perusing the menu and ordering, you can play games like Battleship with your dining partner while you are waiting for your food to arrive.

Don’t like the look of your table? Change it. There are several virtual tablecloths to suit the taste of a wide variety of diners. Select pictures, colors or bright patterns. You can change it several times during your meal — a different tablecloth for each course. What fun!

Finally, you can get a bird’s eye view of the action in the kitchen and watch Inamo’s chefs cook your meal. It’s probably not as exciting as Hell’s Kitchen, but it might be entertaining if you need a break from the tabletop games.

If you need to make transportation arrangements after dinner, you can use the system to book a taxi or browse a map of the tube. When you’re ready to leave, you can view your bill and pay using the system — no waiters needed!

It’s a clever concept. I don’t know why more restaurants haven’t done it yet. Maybe it won’t be long before some of these pop up in the states. When it happens, I’ll definitely be making a reservation.

For a quick view of what it looks like, check out the video below.