Polpo

I went here a while back with Big Matt’s parents who happened to be up in the West End and popped in to the office to say hello. They were down in London for shopping and a show and invited me along for a quick bite if I could recommend an Italian. I was a bit stuck as my favourite non chain place “Il Pizzaolio” was away in the wrong direction so we wandered into Soho where I hoped that inspiration would grab me. As it was as we turned into Beak Street I saw Polpo and suggested we try for a table. It was busy inside but we were seated straight away so none of the queue rage/table envy experienced by many other reviewers on this site.

We picked a fair few items off the menu to try but I wasn’t bowled over. I realise that this is essentially Italian tapas but I did think there were too many bread options on it which aren’t a great challenge for the kitchen. We ordered a couple of fish dishes, one meat and a pasta dish. All were nice but nothing superlative and due to the piecemeal nature of them arriving it never really worked as a proper meal for 3. I think Tapas and to a greater degree Chinese work so well because the kitchens tend to get everything out together. I also felt that the pasta dish which was the best of our selection was very small, personally I think for pasta to work as a sharing dish you need a decent portion so you can use it as a side. The carafe of white wine we had however was very nice, it wasn’t too punchy so I didn’t spend the afternoon fighting off sleep. As I said the restaurant was busy so there was a nice buzz from the room which made up for the so so food.

All in all not a very successful meal out. It has to be said I am getting a bit fed up with the fad for sharing plates. I know someone is going to tell me that Italians have been doing sharing plates for years and this isn’t an example of the emperor’s new unimpressive wardrobe. I don’t think a lot of Italian food lends itself to this concept and it showed in the menu. If I want to share Italian food in future I will stick to my pizza at “Pizza Metro”. I didn’t pay for the meal but I know the bill was high for what we had. I think there is obviously some good money to be made giving the gullible smaller portions and calling it tapas.
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david ginsberg - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Monday, November 14, 2011

A group of 4 of us tried to eat here last weekend having been recommended the food. We arrived at 7.30pm and were told that there would be a bit of a wait for a table for 4 and best wait in the downstairs bar for and hour to an hour and a half. Quite long but as we were in an atmospheric place we thought we would wait as normally you are seated before the time stated. HOWEVER... after 2-3 times asking why lots of groups of "2" were going up ahead of us - we were told that there was still no indication of when we would be able to eat - and this was after 2 hours of waiting?! Absolutely dreadful service, appalling management, no interest in customer service or apology - and worst of all is the fact that there was no logical explanation for why if you are in a "2" you get seated but as a "4" they couldn't push 2 tables together?!!! We were dumb founded by the lack of service and insisted on a discount for the 2.5 hours worth of drinks we had to consume to then be told we still had no table to go to. Shocking.

Never got to try the food. Wont be travelling to london again to give this place a go either.
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mandy heard
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, November 02, 2011

I love it here... I went with another couple. Yes there is always quite a long wait at the bar downstairs, which is a pain but at the same time if your looking for somewhere to go with friends which is cool and quirky then this is the place.
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Lexi - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 5
Friday, October 07, 2011

Ridiculously appalling service…didn’t even get a chance trying the food which may well have been great.

Five of us met at Polpo all travelling from different parts of London, got a table for five, but as 2 off us decided were only drinking and not eating we got booted off our table.then we aere plonked on to a table for 3 which meant the 2 of us drinking had to stand.. we then noticed and jumped onto 2 adjacent bar stools. but these were apparently booked by someone else (I don’t know how you book a bar stool) we weren’t even able to sit near our friends so we left, obligatory complaint lodged with uninterested manageress and then went back home.

We’ve been to restaurants literally all over the place and this was unbelievably, impressively bad…a big well done to all you guys at Polpo.
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Jon Baker
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, September 21, 2011

My first visit to Polpo (including sister restaurants). I went at lunch time on a Monday with a friend, and we had a booking.

First impressions: like the atmosphere, friendly staff, nice rustic but quirky décor

Food: I'm entirely underwhelmed. Portions are incredibly small (and no, I'm not American - I'm a small female). This is not your typical Italian or even vaguely close. Don't expect filling portions (at the price) for the mains. The food itself is so-so. Nothing really pops with flavour or presentation. No free bread.

Toilets: not great

Will I go back or recommend it? No
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6 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, August 02, 2011

This is the most clever fake italian for people that doesn't know what is a bacaro or a real good italian food! Looks cheap but at the end you are leaving hungry if you are order less than 10 dishes! I found only one good thing: a really good business owner behind this poor place!
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Lizzy
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, July 27, 2011

the worst italian (fake) restaurant in the world.... expensive, food overpriced, really bad cooking rude manager rude waiters what else? i dont know it was so bad that my italian blood started boiling and told me to leave straight away... Maybe good for people who never tried real italian cooking in italy.... but for an italian maybe the worst food experience ever... dont go! bad bad bad!!!!
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0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, July 07, 2011

Been there twice, the first time, food was ok, standard salty heavy southern italian food. But the second time, the manager was soooo rude. he insisted on putting us right underneath the mega loud speaker, and would not move us elsewhere although there was tables available. We could barely hear each other although we were shouting at the top of our voice. Definitely not worth the suffer, so we walked out.... Will never go back there again.
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dk - View all reviews by this user
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, June 28, 2011

We went there last Saturday for lunch and arrived reasonably early so we got a table immediately. I'm not sure why people complain about very long waiting times. If it takes too long then just leave, no good suffering. One should also know that it's difficult to find a table in London after 18:30 by just wandering in and hoping for the best.

Anyway, we ordered about 7 different dishes, some were great (broad beans, ricotta, mint bruschetta), some average (the arancini was too salty). The MGM drink was great and the service was fine (most people seem to complain about this).
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Dutch_Food - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Worst experience ever! Don't even bother. The managment is appalling, the tables cramped, the food average with underwhelming portions and who wants to have dinner with music as loud as in a club?? What a disappointment.
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0 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, June 10, 2011