No Place like Nopi, indeed.
I get a certain adrenaline rush whenever I test out a new restaurant, a feeling akin to the flock of food critics getting a preview of Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner. So when Yotam Ottolenghi decides to do a soft opening for his new restaurant on the corner of Warwick Street, I’m straight onto opentable to book a table of four. Nobody knows that they’re going to be having dinner with me… yet.
Nopi (meaning North of Piccadilly) is the first restaurant from the Ottolenghi empire. Known for his crowded delis dotted around the capital and his recent affiliation with The Guardian, the Israeli chef does what he knows best: food that infuses Middle Eastern and Asian elements. I think that’s where he acquired the taste for golden bars and hangers around the restaurant too.
Food here is served as all-day sharing dishes, with a gentle reminder on the menu suggesting three savoury dishes per person. The menu offers half a dozen or so dishes at each level: Meat, Fish and Veg. I suggest looking outside of the Meat bracket. Ottolenghi doesn’t usher his vegetables to the side like some chefs tend to do and his Plenty cookbook is evidence that vegetarians can have just as much fun with their food. So after deliberating over the menu for what would seem like an eternity to the waiting staff, we parted with the paper menus. Nopi hasn’t finalized their menu yet and dishes such as the Braised Lamb meatballs with Yoghurt sauce and pomegranate seeds that I had encountered in previous reviews seemed to be MIA. Another day, perhaps.
Nopi’s complimentary dip for the night was Bread served with Butternut Squash and Olive Oil, a real gem to the vegetarian palate in every way. At first glance, the squash looks like a roughed-up posh version of Nandos sweet potato mash, and believe me, I say that not in a derogatory manner. That stuff is heaven o’clock. But no, the Nopi version enlists tahini and date syrup, as well as a sprinkle of coriander and sesame seeds, to leave you thinking Nandos who? My only qualm with this dish was the olive oil. Personal preference, but the taste was rather too intense for me, and I happily devoured the bread without it.
The Seared scallops, pickled daikon, green apple was ace. The scallops were seared to perfection with no hint of a rubbery disaster at all. The waiter passed by as I was asking my friend what the sauce was, and informed us that it was a sweet chilli sauce. Its taste reminded me exactly of a Chinese dipping sauce often present at hotpot dinners called Sa Cha sauce (沙茶醬). Originality points for Nopi? Mmm I’m not so sure.
Our other dishes included:
- Seared prawns, fennel, white oregano, feta
- Twice-cooked baby chicken, lemon myrtle salt, red pepper sauce
- Slow cooked pig cheek, celeriac and barberry salad
- Grilled lamb cutlets, spicy aubergine, mountain ash goat’s cheese
- Braised carrots, mung beans, smoked labneh
- Baked blu di pecora cheesecake and pickled wild mushrooms
- Burrata, blood orange and coriander seeds
The Burrata, blood orange and coriander seeds was somewhat a surprise of a dish. Initially unsure about what the dish entailed, our waiter enlightened us that burrata was a cheese. Cheese is always good. Yes. So when a ball of cheese, much alike the giant Mozzarella ball I had a few weeks at Bocca di Lupo albeit on a slightly smaller scale, I was all too willing to snag myself a piece. Be warned though, this cheese is all too capable of busting your arteries. Mozzarella on the outside, thick oozing panna (cream) on the inside. Two heavenly made matches for a dairy lover como yo.
So, at around £10 give or take per dish, the damage without the soft opening can be quite hefty. However Ottolenghi’s regular shoppers are used to it, as shown by the plentiful Ottolenghi fans in the food blogosphere. I, for one, witnessed myself hand over £7 for an insensible small box of salad at the Kensington branch. But Nopi catches onto the current fashion for tapas-like dishes that has been led by the Italians, with Polpo and Bocca di Lupo. There is simply no reason for Nopi not to be a hit with the locals. Truth is, without ruining the surprise entirely, The Bathroom of Mirrors alone is a reason to visit.
Nopi
21 & 22 Warwick Street,
W1B 5NE
020 7494 9584
nopi-restaurant.com
Nopi’s a great place to share food with friends. I thought that the sauce for the scallops tasted like XO sauce! The hake kebab has the consistency of good Chinese fish balls, strangely enough!
We were a pit peckish and we tried 16 savoury and sweet dishes
For desserts, I like the rice pudding with rose petals and the hazelnut ice-cream.
I find the food portions were more suited for sharing with one other person, two at the most. I’m not a big eater but I prefer the portions to be slightly bigger for that price tag. If Bocca di Lupo can do a big handful of seafood for £9 (the small) I expect Nopi to do so when normal service begins after this soft opening!
Yes! XO sauce or Sa Cha sauce, definitely that combination!
We tried the Churros and hot chocolate, as well as the Roast Hazelnut ice cream too. Forgot to mention that, oops!
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