Ottolenghi Spitalfields

Booked this restaurant for my boss and his client and they both enjoyed the meal and atmosphere.

Having visited the Spitalfields area on many occasions we've often walked passed Ottolenghi's and thought to ourselves we must try it one day. When we booked you see that there's a Two hour turnaround on the table which we thought was fine but the day before when you get a reminder from Opentable the message from the restaurant says that the turnaround is now 90 minutes which we thought is a touch quick but anyway we wanted to give the place a try so off we went. As you enter you get a good feeling that your going to have a nice time as the welcome is friendly and there is a nice atmosphere. Once seated we started with a cocktail before asking the waiter about the menu. This is set out in three sections the kitchen which are the hot main courses , the counter which are cold courses and the salad section. With the top two sections you get a choice of two salads. With this we then started to realise why the turnaround was a little quick because it really is only a Two Course meal. The staff were very friendly and helpful telling us you could go and look at the salads before making your choice. From the kitchen menu I ordered the Beef & Lamb Kofte together with my choice of salads the Sweet Potato with miso & lime tofu and the Basmati & Red Rice with mango & papaya. We also chose the Fried Sardines and two salads of Roasted Aubergine & Chargrilled Broccoli. Now this is where our mixed feelings start because when our food arrived it looked amazing and in fact was delicious the thing is I would hardly call three small kofte's and three sardines main courses more a starter portion and the salads just seemed to be on large spoonful of each which really was a shame. Anyway we really did enjoy what we had. The other thing was that although the staff are friendly you feel there walking around looking to see if you were finished which is why we felt a bit rushed especially when you notice the couple seated next to us the gentleman had put his cutlery down because he was chatting to his partner and two waiters approached to ask if he'd finished when it was very clear he hadn't. It seemed they were very keen to turnaround as many tables as they could Once we'd finished we was asked if we'd like dessert to which again you could go and choose because some of the desserts were not on the menu and they did look very appetising. We decided on the Apple & Sultana cake with Maple Syrup cream & the Carrot & Walnut cake and both were amazing. At the same time we ordered a coffee and a mint tea The strange thing was our tea & coffee arrived first and by the time we'd finished desserts our drinks were cold. So that brought us to the end of our lunch which was all over in under an hour and also when you've paid £93 for two cocktails , two starter sized mains two small salads each and two desserts I don't think it was great value for money either. I think a better idea would be to price each dish individually allowing you to choose from the entire menu and therefore try as many dishes you liked. I would say that this place is ideal for a quick lunch but for a relaxing meal then perhaps not

I had previously eaten several lunches at the Ottolenghi in Islington and where the service would get ruder and more surly on each visit. So it was not with a great deal of enthusiasm that I looked forward to a friends choice for an evening in the Spitalfields outpost of Ottolenghi. I am always slightly confused by them - is it a posh lunch time salad bar, or a restaurant? And Spittalfields still confused me. More so as we sat on a table near the bar, between the darkened dining room, and the salad bar. But there is a key difference to soul destroying experience of Islington here, and that was the service. Everybody was charming, friendly and knowledgable. It really made for a different experience. As a table of four greedy so and so's, we wanted to try most things. So in this international tapas style restaurant we tried our hardest. With a sweet and lush quince salad, a stunning aniseed courgette and broccoli dish, crispy pork belly, seared tuna, lamb with a jalepeno salsa and many more dishes (all £9/11 each) the flavour explosion was immense. Our wonderful waitress was amazing. Friendly, forever helpful, and kept the little plates of delights coming. She suggested various wines, from which we had a Dabouki from Palestine (£35) and a prosecco (£32) which we great. I still think it is quite expensive. I still can't quite work out whether it is an evening restaurant or just for lunches. But the food and service were great. I really hope the Islington branch has been shamed into being the venue that Spitalfields has become.