Ottolenghi Nopi
Nopi review: the Ottolenghi flagship on Warwick Street is still the best Middle-Eastern-tinged restaurant in Soho. Sharing plates, big colours, good wine.
Nopi has been on Warwick Street since 2011 and has successfully resisted the temptation to coast on the Ottolenghi brand. It is still a proper restaurant, with proper cooks, and a kitchen that remembers what seasoning is.
The room
Mirrored, marble-countered, brass-trimmed. Bright at lunch, warmer at dinner.
What to order
The courgette and manouri fritters, the aubergine with black garlic yoghurt, the hispi cabbage with miso butter. For a main, the chargrilled octopus. Pudding: the chocolate, raspberry and ginger cake. Always. Splits four ways.
The drinks list
Big, clever, slightly showy, with a generous by-the-glass section and an unusually strong set of Greek and Lebanese wines.
What you will pay
Three small plates and a main each, pudding to share, a glass of wine per person: around £65.
The verdict
Book for four, order everything bright green, and try not to finish the cake before the plate arrives at the table.
Clara Whitfield
Editor and restaurant critic
Clara Whitfield is the editor and lead restaurant critic of Vivi. She has eaten through the London restaurant scene professionally for over a decade, contributing reviews and features to regional and national food publications.
She writes Vivi's weekly restaurant review and the Saturday essay. She prefers early dinners and a table facing the room.
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