Nopi

Remember the scene in Pulp Fiction where the briefcase opens and showers people with a dazzling, golden light? This is how I felt, happily propped up at Nopi's shiny, gilt-edged bar, surrounded by animated chatter.

The service seems warm and informal, with staff that appear genuinely jolly. It's infectious, even as a solo diner. To my left was a trendy media type with the rosy glow and happily pink cheeks of the well-fed, lazily pawing his way through the Guardian. To my right was no shortage of gentle flirtation, as the lucky chap left with a fellow diner's number. It's all very ‘Soho brunch-fest’, but not obnoxiously so.

I hungrily scoured the menu and was immediately seduced by the rabbit pastilla; a curious, sugar-dusted pastry with a rich ragu within. There's no starters here so you order a scattering of dishes; I plumped for twice-cooked chicken and an aromatic cauliflower salad. The latter was spiked with capers, milky ricotta and the sharp zing of a keenly-seasoned dressing. The chargrilled chicken was flavoursome, moreish and soused withe lime, albeit accompanied by a slightly weedy chilli sauce.

But the pastilla stole the show – the luscious filling of bunny and spice encased in buttery pastry now resides in the chambers of my most prized foodie memories. Puds were a lively combination of new and unusual ingredients (including a little layered delicacy made from cherry stone pulp, which was chewy and toothsome but tasty) and the cocktails were similarly imaginative.

Then the bill arrived, and my podgy little bubble burst. I'm torn: half of me is an Ottolenghi believer that's cooked much of the way through Plenty, but the other half thinks the prices are largely indefensible. I'd happily devour most of the menu and think it's a genuine challenge to the resolutely carnivorous, but £8 to £12 for a veggie side? Yikes. I racked up a £70 bill all to easily, which didn't enhance my post-gorge glow.

The restaurant is beautiful and even spending a penny in the glittering facilities feels like a treat, but it'll sure cost you.

Having visited this restaurant a few times it can be summarised as follows – Overall, this restaurant has potential. It is stylist , vibrant, offers great food and employs friendly and professional staff. However it is expensive and the portions are rather small, which leaves one with the option of either ordering more food and thus getting hit with a large bill or buying a sandwich on the way home to sate one's hunger. If the restaurant could increase its very small portion sizes it would be a winner.

For all the exuberance and heritage in the mix of middle eastern cultures expected of the Ottolenghi duo, Nopi is sleek and slinky, and understatedly stylish.
We sat at the end of the bar, which quite fun and cosy as a couple.
Most of the dishes play with middle eastern tilt (amongst our selection: french beans, smoked wheat, tahini lemon dressing / burrata, blood orange, coriander seeds) and it most definitely works in the mix of flavours and ingredients. The Spiced gurnard wrapped in banana leaf, pineapple sambal was divine, make sure you have enough not-to-need-to-share. The wine, we had a Sardignian wine from the less well known selection, somehow finished disproprortionally fast.
The portions however are minimalistic, bigger than tapas but smaller than a starter and I could not help feeling gluttonous ordering three dishes and desert (Vanilla rice pudding, roasted pistachio, rose) and then left still hungry. Incidentally, I am not sure if it was the wine, but I am sure the rice pudding bowl had a convex bottom implying a bigger portion than was present.
Value for money it is not. Maybe the trick is to have a big lunch before going for dinner. Or even better, to corporate expense the outing. But delicious it was with an atmosphere between Soho cool and Mayfair chic.

Four of us went for supper at Nopi last night. The food was the usual, exceptional, Ottolenghi standard. One of the sommeliers recommended a delicious Spanish rosé to match our dishes. Whilst we were choosing from the menu, we were served with freshly made babaghanoush and olive oil and bread. The bread was good but personally I would have preferred some flat bread to dip into the oil and aubergine dip.

The menu suggests at least 3 dishes per person, but we selected 9 dishes between four of us, and this was plenty. We asked the waiter to recommend a dish from each of the menu sections: vegetable, fish and meat. His choices were undoubtedly the best. From the vegetable section we chose the chargrilled broccolini with skordalia and chilli oil and the roasted delica pumpkin, rainbow chard, manouri tart. The waiter recommended the cauliflower with raisin puree. As a vegetable lover all three dishes were divine, the pastry in the tart and the pumkin was delicious, but the cauliflower exceeded my expectations with its slightly sweet yet spiced flavour.

From the fish section we selected the salmon and bulgar wheat, preserved lemon and the chargrilled octopus, salmorejo sauce, morcilla. The waiter recommended the spiced gurnard, wrapped in a banana leaf with mango. The salmon had a slight Thai flavour and was beautifully presented. The octopus was very tasty but we preferred the gurnard as the spiced taste was amazing.

From the meat section we chose the Hibiscus and tea smoked quail, cumquat and clementine relish and the Goan masala lamb with celeriac, barberry and green chilli sauce. The waiter recommended the roasted beef sirloin, almonds, spinach and pecorino. All of these dishes were beautifully presented with a wonderful balance of flavours. I loved the quail, but the beef was voted the favourite and came a close second to the gurnard for overall best dish.

For dessert we chose the chocolate rum financier with chestnut cream and candied chestnut and the caramel and roasted peanut ice cream with chocolate sauce. Both deserts were yummy and good if you have a sweet tooth. The ice cream was quite rich. It was as the waiter said a snickers bar dessert. I would definitely choose the chocolate financeiers again next time. Overall a great experience. It was on the pricey side but for a special occasion it was worth it, and fortunately I wasn’t paying!

I don't understand how they could have got it so wrong. Whilst I do love the original Ottolenghi(s), the foray into proper dining is overpriced, overhyped and underwhelming.

My main issue is price – SO SO expensive for average innovation and tastes. Yes it is very fresh and good quality, but seriously it is not fine dining.

The space is pretty enough and thank god someone has done a pretty loo again. Nice wine list.

Don't bother though.

I had very high expectations of Nopi – but was slightly disappointed. We started on the wrong foot, as my dining companion and I were about 10 minutes early, and were simply sent away to come back at the right time – there was no room at the bar and, although some tables were free, we weren't offered a seat, even just to have a drink. The greeter was perfectly friendly, but it didn't exactly put me in the right frame of mind!

However, once we were seated, things got better. The bread, which came with a spiced broad bean dip, was gorgeous – as was our waiter. It is hard not to think that Nopi is following in the Abercrombie & bFirch footsteps of only putting the beautiful people on show. The service was as lovely as the man serving – very charming, friendly and winning.

The food was just downright delicious – they recommend 3 choices each, which I would heartily recommend, as the portions are not generous. But the flavours are spot on. We had an aubergine tart – the aubergines dried like tomatoes, with a very deep, almost sweet flavour, with some creamy mozzarella and fresh basil on a crisp pastry rectangle; broccoli with chilli (this was a revelation – the best, absolutely the best, broccoli I have ever eaten, with crispy chillies shredded on top); soft shell crab; trout; chicken with myrtle salt and a chilli dip; and braised pigs cheeks. The last was the least exciting – nothing wrong with the execution, taste or texture, but it was a bit like eating a large spoonful of casserole after a feast of much lighter, crisper textures and flavours.

For pud we shared doughnuts – which were small and scrumptious, with a vanilla cream and berry dip; and coffee financiers (albeit in the shape of madeleines, not ingots) with a maple syrup dip. Both were gorgeous. A glass of wine each, and tap water, and the bill was about £60 a head – if you splashed out on the wine, or ordered a couple more dishes, you would rack the bill up without even noticing.

The restaurant is a pleasant space, but one of the loudest I've ever eaten in – everything is hard – tiled or brick walls; paper tablecloths (too much mess for linen, presumably – linen napkins, though); metal lamps – nothing to soften the noise at all.

So, would I go back? Yes, provided I could arrive dead on time, wasn't enormously hungry, and had cards in my handbag to hold up to my companion when the noise proved too much.

Very disappointing dining experience. The pushy waitress hovered around pushing an expensive bottle of wine. When I tried to look at the menu, she kept telling me “to order this one as it's just fabulous” instead of letting me choose one. It was sunday lunch and I was with my mother, so 60 GBP bottle of wine, when driving was not on my mind, but we ended up ordering one, as she was so pushy. Dishes were tiny and not as tasty as Ottolenghi. After an hour and a half we were asked to move to the bar for coffees as next guests had arrived. I certainly won't be returning. It's a restaurant riding on the hype of Ottolenghi.

I have recently been able to visit Nopi both for lunch and dinner and had mixed experiences. Its certainly extremely well designed to be a very relaxed and cool interior. The food itself definitely has the Ottolenghi influence – largish tapas style meals where you are recommended to have approx 3 dishes each. These range from £8-£12 each so it isnt cheap. Service is excellent and staff are very informative and friendly.

You are given free still and sparkling water plus bread and butternut squash type humous and bread which was lovely. I was told this is only available at dinner though. As for mains, well you order various dishes and share. The outstanding dish for me was the roasted lamb cutlets, pistachio pesto and mastic cream. Melt in the mouth and easily something i could have each and every time i may return. I also had the twice cooked chicken and the sirloin of beef but nothing special, just well presented. My friends had the prawn dish and loved that. Other memorable dishes were the burrata which was like a large mozarella ball with blood orange and coriander seeds. I enjoyed this alongside the Japanese aubergine but can imagine id have to have something meaty with it! Puddingwise i had the hazlenut ice cream (£6.50) but it wasnt anything more special than ice cream ive had in any of the pop up parlours which seem to have arisen in Soho recently so next time id save my money and avoid pudding.

Downsides were that my friend found the buratta underseasoned and bland. Also, ive heard from other diners that the menu rarely changes so not a huge variety if they expect repeat visits. Finally – hugely expensive. Three dishes plus one pudding was £50 and this was excluding drinks.

Id certainly go again if the lamb was on the menu but i wont be rushing back as again i think there are so many places in central London that i feel are worth trying out. As for the food, some dishes are very good but I think youd get better value in one of the Ottolenghi branches themselves – and a much bigger selection on offer.

As we arrived at Nopi some friends of ours were leaving: chuffed to have beaten us to eat at the New Foodie Place Du Jour, they practically crowed about how great it was. And it is good, of that there is no question. The food is all lovely little dishes; the tapas style, that is all so de rigueur at the moment. They are well executed and well presented. But, and you just knew that there was going to be one, I felt ever so slightly let down by the whole experience.

The room is white tiled and functional (it doesn't have that lavatory appearance that tiled rooms can somehow have), with the tables nicely spaced and lights that look as though you can pull them down to lower them, '70's style. I resisted the temptation somehow.

The receptionist, bar staff and waiting staff were to a person fantastic; just on that right side of friendly without being over-familiar. The head waiter seemed mortified that he might have brought the wrong dish, when actually, given the number of dishes that we had ordered, I had simply forgotten. The waitress, however, did get the wine wrong, but insisted with such certainty that it was what I had ordered, we let it slide (it was lovely, by the way, and, as it had been a toss-up between two equally priced bottles, I wasn't that concerned that she brought me my second choice).

I like the way too that there is sparkling and still filtered water gratis, and there is none of that mucking around with a service charge for the, beautifully chewy, sourdough bread, a couple of slices of which arrive with some peppery olive oil once we were seated.

No, it was the food: it wasn't poorly prepared or poorly presented, but the expectation was so high that it simply couldn’t reach the heights that I had come to expect. Not at these prices: and yes, it is not what you'd call cheap. Tapas often can be expensive, but when the portions are sub-starter sizes and weigh in at above-starter prices, well you expect something out of the ordinary: you want uni or Jamon Iberica; you want your taste buds to sing out in joy. Three brisket croquettes (very nice and crunchy though they were) didn't quite have the tongue dancing.

At the menu’s suggestion, we duly ordered three dishes each, although if you were even mildly hungry, you could easily double that (we skipped the deserts, although they did sound good). The pick of the dishes was probably the Fondant Swede, which was an interesting twist on one of my favourite root vegetables. The halibut carpaccio was novel, coming with some samphire and little leaves. This was really a modern sashimi dish, and it raises a fair question: advertised as a restaurant offering middle-eastern food, where does sashimi come into it? I know that this used to be the home of the Sugar Club (one of the pioneers of fusion cooking), but it all seemed a little confused to me. We had sesami prawn toasts too: more doughballs filled with prawns than your traditional Chinese. Again nicely done, but give me the deep fried joys of the Royal China and I am a happy man. Good though they were, it didn’t really go with winter greens. OK, this may have been bad ordering on our part but, as things arrive in batches rather than in a set series, you'd have thought that the restaurant could have worked out which dishes went together and brought those at the same time.

Despite this confusion, I really did like it and I will almost certainly go back for a second helping and, having lowered my expectations, I am certain that I will enjoy it even more.

I was very excited to visit a restaurant associated with the famous Ottolenghi, but the experience fell a bit flat sadly.As someone who loves to share food with friends, the tapas-esque invitation to order three dishes each sounded great. After placing our order the food began arriving a well timed intervals and we all tucked in over conversation. And the food was nice. That's all really. But when you are paying practically the cost of a main in most restaurants for an ickle sharer dish in Nopi, I think as a customer you are duly entitled to expect something special. And it didn't deliver. I was also quite annoyed by my water as I left who asked me how my meal was. “It was fine thank you.” Sensing that I hasn't been blown away by the experience he asked “ah not your type of food then?.” My internal monologue said “no, I love this type of food but expected better”, but I just repeated that “it was fine”.

I visited Nopi during their soft opening, where a 50% discount was extended to all diners allowing me to try as many dishes as I liked. With my fellow Ottonlenghipiles in tow, we reviewed the menu divided simply into meat, fish, vegetable and dessert categories.

Carpaccio of rose veal and beetroot with Kashk (Dried whey, a common Persian ingredient) was pretty good although the kashk was overly diluted by yoghurt and lacked the intense saltiness familiar to me. Scallops with pickled daikon radish and apple were nicely caramelised and though soft on the inside, imparted a slightly unpleasant fishy aftertaste in my mouth which felt they like had ‘stewed’ rather than the desired searing expected. I was more hopeful of our lamb cutlets with a spiced aubergines and goat cheese but the cutlets were rather lukewarm and although the aubergine was delicious (similar to Sicialian Caponata) it didn't do much to mask the excessively rare nature of the lamb and the worryingly solidified stretch of cold fat on one of the cutlets. Fortunately the second cutlet fared a little better and combined with the aubergine salad and a bite of the goat cheese, made for an explosion of Mediterranean flavours.

Sea bream with an accompanying salad of fresh coconut, mint and cashew was less successful; the fish was overcooked and chewy and the salad a little too bland for my liking. But the slow cooked pigs cheeks with a celeriac and barberry salad were fantastic although I find myself asking why almost every dishes comes with a salad? A nice, smooth root vegetable puree would have been a better pairing with this kind of braised meat in my opinion. Twice-cooked baby chicken with lemon myrtle salt and chilli sauce was nice but not as tender as I would have liked although the lemon myrtle salt was a zingy and aromatic revelation.

Next up came a whole ball of Burrata cheese with blood oranges topped with coriander seeds. This dish just didn't work for me; the coriander seeds interfered with the creamy (dreamy) flavour of the Burrata and the blood oranges didn't have enough of a presence to warrant being a component of the dish. I also like my Burrata to ooze; that's the whole point of Burrata. When you break it open, a cream like substance usually pours out and in this case I could only liken the cheese to a very soft-centred buffalo Mozzarella. The giant prawns with oregano, feta and fennel were excellent. Proper grown-up, meaty prawns with sharp feta cheese and a delicate tomato sauce. Excellent.

Desserts were a very different affair and not only did the dessert portion of the menu read disappointingly but the churros my companions selected were rock hard on and weighty and the look of the chocolate didn't do much to invite me to taste it. Considering Yotam Ottolenghi is a bit of a cake-God, I'm surprised to see that the sweet section of the menu consisted of little more than a Financier cake, some ice cream, quince with quince paste (overkill, perhaps?) and churros.

Overall I feel the food was a bit hit and miss and perhaps thats the trouble when you are trying to move from deli-style shops to a formal restaurant. In a deli you can afford to pay less attention to the overall cooking of meats and fish as they are often purchased cold but when cooking to order, you need to get it right. Expect to pay anywhere from £8-£12 per dish which is fine except for the fact that the dishes are “Small and good for sharing” and with 3 dishes recommended per person, plus dessert and wines, you could be heading for a rather huge bill at the end.

I do largely believe that many of the menu ‘wrinkles’ will be ironed out in the coming weeks and in time, the menu will evolve accordingly and find an even keel that suits both the restaurant and it's patrons. Would I go back? Yes I would but I would much prefer to go midweek for a quiet late lunch, grab a paper and head downstairs to the communal bar table and eat informally whilst I watch the chefs work there magic as I pretend to read my newspaper. Yotam Ottolenghi is a man of many talents with many successes under his belt. I sincerely hope he stays sufficiently invested and hands-on in his businesses and doesn't spread himself out too thinly as he is the real magic behind the Ottolenghi brand and without him things don't quite have the same sparkle.

Where to start? Probably as close as you can get to the perfect meal if you don’t mind sharing and like to try as much on the menu as possible. The warm inviting space, despite being white and minimalist, is more welcoming and comfortable than Ottolenghi restaurants – making you want to hole up for a good few hours and try as much as possible on the extensive menu. A splash of colour comes from huge bunches of tulips in fabulous round gold vases, and large gold lampshades give off that elusive ‘perfect’ light that makes everyone and everything look gorgeous.

We were given a sweet potato & pumpkin houmous with bread on arrival, whilst having a chat with the approachable female sommelier who recommended some unusual wines at well under our proposed budget (always a good sign), including an aromatic, juicy Slovenian Riesling. Staff were attentive but not overly so, and really knew the menu inside out, giving some spot-on recommendations.

Four of us shared 14 dishes in total, which arrived in waves decided on by the kitchen, but there was never too much or too little at once. Pretty much everything blew us away, but highlights included prawn toast rolls and beef brisket croquettes to start (fried food heaven), followed by pigs cheeks with celeriac mash and ossobucco with parmesan polenta, both powerfully earthy but elegant and luxurious at the same time.

Our waiter insisted we try the spiced baby chicken which came with a crisp, zingy vegetable accompaniment, as did many of the other dishes, the sides lifting each dish to another level – in fact they were so good we asked for more of the Asian coleslaw that came with the trout. The only duff note was a bland vegetable dish of swede gratin, and perhaps the burrata, which needed some more blood orange to cut through its oozy milky richness.

We somehow squeezed in a couple of puddings (just to make sure…). Churros y chocolate felt naughty and moreish – but how can deep fried pastry dipped in melted chocolate be anything else? Rice pudding with cardamom, rose syrup and pistachios was a heavenly bowl of intense, fragrant, vanilla-scented rice, though the whole cardamom pods were rather off-putting to chew on (fresh breath notwithstanding…).

What else? Oh THE LOOS! Up until now, Crazy Bear has always been my standard-bearer for OOT but fabulous loos, but Nopi’s mirrored boudoir takes things up a notch to create a glamorous powder room feel.

Good to see Yotam Ottolenghi buzzing around and generally running a tight ship. All in all: beautiful space, spot-on service, excellent food, wallet-friendly wine and fab loos – the man is a god!

(Word of advice: as it was opening week when we visited, the place was crawling with critics and food bloggers, ostentatiously sniffing each dish, slurping wine and snapping away during each course. If you find this practice as irritating as I do avoid for the next few weeks!)

I am just about getting over my fullness enough so that I can sit up and type. I have had the lucky privilege of going to Nopi today, Ottolenghi's new restaurant venture. If you're not in the know, Ottolenghi is a set of food shops/cafes in London that focus on fresh punchy ingredients, full of bright and bold flavors. I've been a fan for a while and often dabble in recipes from their older cook book and when I spotted on twitter that they were doing a soft opening for Nopi at 50% off, I jumped at the chance and booked a table for me and my boyfriend's family.

Nopi itself is absolutely stunning. Tucked just behind bustling Regent Street the restaurant is housed in a beautiful two floored building; the ground floor which you enter on is decorated almost entirely in bold white marble and glittering golden brass, so that any colour in the furniture and food really pops out at you, overall the feel of the place is sleek, formal and bright. Downstairs the basement is setup in a canteen style with delicious store cupboard products on display and a view straight into the kitchen making the space feel warm and more casual. On walking in, I was faced with a beautiful ornate gold lampshade, a bowl of overflowing, brash red chillis and a view to the back of the restaurant where I could see smiling staff bustling around tables of diners sharing food.

Immediately, our coats were taken, we were shown to our table smack bang in the middle of the restaurant and handed paper dated menus. The menu varied slightly to the one shown online, but it was exciting, assorted and easy to read. Even though we were clearly somewhere very special and a bit posh, there was no menu intimidation; dishes were split into ‘meat’, ‘fish’ and ‘veg’ and there was no offputting language, cooking techniques or ingredients I hadn't heard of.

We all took Ottolenghi's advice and went for what seems to be their unique selling point; grab three savory dishes each and share the whole lot with everyone round the table. There was plenty of umming and ahhing about having two and a half each so as not to over-order, but logistics and excitement at the delectable menu got the better of us and before we knew it we were all declaring our choices so as not to miss out on anything. Here's what the 5 of us went for:

Braised lamb belly, mixed mushrooms, sumac
Roasted pork belly, ren onion chutney, Szechuan pepper x2 Braised lamb meatballs, yoghurt sauce, pomegranate seeds x2
Beef brisket croquets, Asian slaw x2
Ossobuco, sage and parmesan polenta
Seared Scallops, pickled daikon, green apple Grilled hake kebabs, lemon pickle, yoghurt
Baked blu di pecora cheesecake, wild mushrooms
Braised winter greens, tahini yoghurt
Fondant swede gratin, savoy cabbage x2
Burrata, blood orange, coriander seeds
Green beans, roast hazelnuts, orange (bit these never turned up..)

Food started arriving within about 15 minutes, and once it did, it didn't seem to stop. Our dishes came out at different times, not when they were ready in the kitchen, but more as the staff saw fit. Food came grouped into complimenting formats, with ingredients and flavours that seemed to match. They arrived about three at a time which meant we had time to really oogle over and appreciate each one. I won't go through each and every dish, but want to show you some of the ones that really stood out as a unique culinary experiences. Some of them were like nothing else I have ever eatean, which is an impressive declaration for such tiny dishes.

The beef brisket croquets were incredible and appreciated by all. They were crunchy and crisp on the outside and were filled with pulled beef that oozed with salty, rich juices when you sliced into them. They were cut through by the Asian Slaw which was light, citrusy and fresh. The lamb meatballs were a complete triumph. The lamb was pink and tender and rolled with crunchy pine-nuts and topped with surprise smoked aubergine that tasted of bbqs and bonfires. The yoghurt sauce was creamy, nutty and moreish and the pomegranate was so light and fresh that it made me feel like I wasn't eating anything too naughty…

Then the Ossobuco with polenta arrived, I admit I've never cooked with polenta so have no idea if anyone and everyone can get the stuff tasting that good, but my oh my, it turned out to be my favourite dish. It was smeared onto the plate like a squashed pancake, was deliciously cheesy and smooth and paired perfectly with the soft, flaked ossobuco (veal shanks braised in white wine, vegetables and thier broth). If you take any of my recommendations to heart make sure it's this one.

The vege dishes were just as fabulous, the cheesey, sweet and creamy fondant swede gratin a particular favourite thanks to its contrasting textures of soft swede and crunchy cabbage (and not only because it came in a lovely individual pot). The winter greens were rich and juicy yet retained a crunchy bite and the baked cheesecake? Well that lasted only seconds, it was literally eaten so quickly that I couldn't get a photo! The blu di pecora, which is a blue veined sheeps cheese, was balanced with sweet leaks and baked until it was light and almost quiche like. Burrata is a type of mozzarella that from the outside mimics an ordinary mozarella completely, but on the inside is a mix of the stringy cheese as we know and love it and rich delicious cream. As we chopped through it sourish white liquid spilt out and mingled delciously with the sweet, sharp blood orange segments and the fragrant coriander seeds.

The green beans sadly never materialised but this was probably a good thing as we had eaten more than enough and had got through all of our servings of meat. If we'd been paying full price we might have been peeved, but losing just one order at a brand new place didn't phase us much.

Still, we couldn't resist the puddings. We all had different sweets, me going for the Cardomom rice pudding, rose syrup and pistachio. The dish was aromatic, warming and floral with the pistachio offering a welcome crunch and was perhaps the prettiest dish we received in the whole sitting. The Churros went down a treat, the fennel adding a grown up punch, and the ‘Chocolate, peanut brittle, mace and creme fraiche’ a rich velvety deep treat.

This was all washed down with beautiful white wine (I drank a bit too much of it so forgot to take note of its' name or origin..apologies) and topped off with a very strong macchiato and I couldn't have left happier. The staff were all very friendly, kind, considerate and clearly very eager to do well. Chatting to some on their breaks, I got a sense of pride and excitement in what they had achieved and boy was it due. Our meal was pretty much seemless and our experience fantastic, we even left saying we would have paid full price for it (we paid £122 for £244 of food) , it was that good. If you manage to grab a table before the 23rd you'll be in for a half price treat, but if you don't have time they open properly on the 24th so make it your business to go anyway, it will still be worth it.

One last pointer, look out for the toilets, a glimpse of which are given in the top montage, bottom right!

I went here last night. You can order a few plates of food (similar to large tapas portions) for around £10 to £12 a plate. We had 8 plates between two, and it was a lot of food! Some stunning dishes, such as the prawns in a tomato tarragon sauce, spiced lamb cutlets and a pineapple gallette with coconut icecream. With wine and dessert wine, the bill was £140, which obviously is not cheap. Maybe we should have ordered less and not drunk as much. The table for two we were at was very crammed in, I had to turn sideways to get to the chair, and I'm not fat. The mirrored bathrooms are confusing, and were causing issues for everyone in there. They do sparkling tap water and the staff were on their best behaviour – they had to be, as the restaurant had just opened. However the food was genuinely delicious, if not outstanding, reflecting perfectly the great Ottolenghi recipes and I would eat all of it all over again.