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Soho restaurants
eatmytown.co.uk © 2007-2010. All rights reserved.
Polpo
Address:
41 Beak Street
Soho
London
W1F 9SB
Tel: 020 7734 4479
Rating:
(Review date: January 2010) your comments (0)
Jamie Oliver has blazed a trail with cheap, cheerful and interesting Italian food served in an uplifting atmosphere with his ‘Italian’ chain and Polpo in Soho is born out of the same warm and comforting blanket of dining goodness.
Before visiting we’d heard that the place was rarely less than heaving so when I phoned to book on the fly barely two hours before arriving I was amazed that we secured a table, albeit 15 minutes later than our desired time.
On arriving I was even more amazed that we’d managed to make this reservation as the place was packed to the gunnels - both the restaurant and bar sections.
We had a short wait with a drink at the bar before we were shown to a table in the narrow yet cosy restaurant area. And cosy is definitely the word here as the tables are extremely close to each other. This could have been an issue if the place had been quieter, but fortunately the buzz was such that she could quiet happily have an (almost) private conversation.
Once seated with a couple of glasses of perfectly decent house red (I say glasses, but a glass here is actually a small carafe which at a guess holds a large glass and a bit) we turned to choosing our meal of what are effectively Italian tapas dishes.
We started with the chicheti and crostini section and opted for salt cod on grilled polenta and anchovy and chickpeas. The salt cod wasn’t very salty but was a decent bite, as was the anchovy. Bear in mind that these dishes are around two mouthfuls in size and cost between £1 and £2.10 each.
The preliminaries over with, we moved on to slow roast duck with peppercorns and black olives, calf’s liver with onions and sage, a mackerel tartare and a side dish of spinach with chilli and garlic.
Without rambling on about the finer points of each dish, it is easy to sum them up as a whole. They were all relatively simple, perfectly tasty but nothing that’s going to blow your mind and get you salivating for your return visit.
This is enjoyable crowd pleasing food which is perfect for a quick lunch or a relaxing gathering with a group of friends. Polpo is not a ‘foodie’ place where each dish is to be careful savoured and revered.
Our total bill - including service - came in at just under £50 which was excellent value.
The staff were refreshingly relaxed while being friendly and efficient and at no point did we feel under pressure to finish our meal quickly, despite the crowds.
Jamie Oliver deserves his success with the Jamie’s Italian chain and Polpo equally deserves to do well with its take on Italian comfort food. Recommended.
Visit: www.polpo.co.uk
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Address:
41 Beak Street
Soho
London
W1F 9SB
Tel: 020 7734 4479
Rating:
(Review date: January 2010) your comments (0)
Jamie Oliver has blazed a trail with cheap, cheerful and interesting Italian food served in an uplifting atmosphere with his ‘Italian’ chain and Polpo in Soho is born out of the same warm and comforting blanket of dining goodness.
Before visiting we’d heard that the place was rarely less than heaving so when I phoned to book on the fly barely two hours before arriving I was amazed that we secured a table, albeit 15 minutes later than our desired time.
On arriving I was even more amazed that we’d managed to make this reservation as the place was packed to the gunnels - both the restaurant and bar sections.
We had a short wait with a drink at the bar before we were shown to a table in the narrow yet cosy restaurant area. And cosy is definitely the word here as the tables are extremely close to each other. This could have been an issue if the place had been quieter, but fortunately the buzz was such that she could quiet happily have an (almost) private conversation.
Once seated with a couple of glasses of perfectly decent house red (I say glasses, but a glass here is actually a small carafe which at a guess holds a large glass and a bit) we turned to choosing our meal of what are effectively Italian tapas dishes.
We started with the chicheti and crostini section and opted for salt cod on grilled polenta and anchovy and chickpeas. The salt cod wasn’t very salty but was a decent bite, as was the anchovy. Bear in mind that these dishes are around two mouthfuls in size and cost between £1 and £2.10 each.
The preliminaries over with, we moved on to slow roast duck with peppercorns and black olives, calf’s liver with onions and sage, a mackerel tartare and a side dish of spinach with chilli and garlic.
Without rambling on about the finer points of each dish, it is easy to sum them up as a whole. They were all relatively simple, perfectly tasty but nothing that’s going to blow your mind and get you salivating for your return visit.
This is enjoyable crowd pleasing food which is perfect for a quick lunch or a relaxing gathering with a group of friends. Polpo is not a ‘foodie’ place where each dish is to be careful savoured and revered.
Our total bill - including service - came in at just under £50 which was excellent value.
The staff were refreshingly relaxed while being friendly and efficient and at no point did we feel under pressure to finish our meal quickly, despite the crowds.
Jamie Oliver deserves his success with the Jamie’s Italian chain and Polpo equally deserves to do well with its take on Italian comfort food. Recommended.
Visit: www.polpo.co.uk
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