Polpetto

Oh dear - walked in off the stairs for lunch at 1.15 and what did I see? A virtually empty room. Not the Polpetto I knew and loved. As soon as I saw the menu I saw why - all the cheap little starters are gone and the mains have about doubled in price.

A disaster - lost all the atmosphere and twice the cost. Won't be going back.
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david shamash - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, November 23, 2011

First visit today at lunch which is just as well since they don't reserve tables in the evenings and I'm not good at waiting uncertainly. It was quiet when we got there which was just as well since the tables are close enough together to give "sharing plates" a whole new context. As it happens we were unable to really test either the service or the kitchen and the flow of our selected courses was pretty much uninterrupted.

The food we ate was enjoyable- good white pizza, skate cheeks, octopus & potato salad, and ham hock with veg, accompanied by some tasty shoestring fried zucchini and a plate of "new seasons" borlotti beans. Everything decent, nothing really memorable. Decent value too we thought- the above with a half a litre of decent Italian white and service was £50.

Service was smiley and helpful and timely, though as intimated whether I could say the same at 9pm on a Friday night is a matter of conjecture, I can only speak as we found. I'd go back, but only at lunch so I could reserve and only early because i value a little space. Personally I prefer Bocca di Lupo, but then that costs quite a bit more.
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David Henderson - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Saturday, June 18, 2011

Sat at a cozy table for two, next to an open window with the bright sun and spring breeze coming through may have influenced our opinion, but my wife and I had a great early supper at Polpetto last night before heading to Ronnie Scotts.

The forced shabbiness isn't quite as well done as similar places in Bethnal Green. but walking through the crowd at the French House to get upstairs does add an air of authenticity!

No complaints about the service. The two on duty were good-looking and friendly, which is to be expected in Soho.

Perhaps we just ordered well, but the food was excellent. Okay, you have to like little sharing plates, but otherwise I'm not sure you'd come. Zucchini fries came in what looked like a large pile, but they were soon gone, addictive as they were. Cold meat plate included some things not to everyone's taste perhaps, including Lardo and a big pile of chopped chicken liver, but all if it was clearly good examples and we cleared the plate. The wife was particularly enchanted with the fried sardines; for me, it was the bruschetta with prosciutto and artichoke. Zabaglione ice cream and flourless chocolate cake topped it all off.

Simple wine list, with most choices available in 25cl and 50cl carafes as well as by the bottle. Perfect. We had the only rose option (I was instructed to find it and buy a case) and the Sangiovese (better than many Chiantis as the same price).

Not cheap - £80 for the above, but we had enough to drink and left full. We would happily return and pay the same.
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Dan - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Thursday, April 07, 2011

I used to come here in the 1990s when it was run by Fergus Henderson before he opened St John in Clerkenwell. It then went into terminal decline as the dining room of the grotty but charming pub below. When the team behind Polpo took it over and sexed it up late autumn I tried no fewer than four times to get in for dinner, but their frustrating no reservations policy beat me back each time. I can't wait more than 45 seconds for a coffee in Cafe Nero so 45 minutes for a table is out of the question!

The good news is that you can book for lunch, so I took my father last week. It was worth the wait.

Polpetto is not a great culinary destination in the same way that, say, Locanda Locatelli is, but what it does, it does very well. These are trattoria dishes done simply but done very well. A tiny crostino of beet-cured salmon and horseradish was delightful. The burrata and lentils was an umami treat and of the remaining 5 or 6 small plates we had, braised ox cheeks with white polenta was stand-out and little breaded fillets of sardines with a sort-of Italian tartare sauce was delicious. Desserts seemed like an afterthought but dad absolutely loved the cute tiramisu pot, which he declared better than at Harry's Bar. No small praise.

Overall I would say that Polpetto does effortlessly what other restaurants strive to achieve but never do: great food, inexpensive, friendly staff, and in utterly

gorgeous surroundings. One shortcoming: small, limited winelist. We wanted a Super Tuscan but they only had northern Italian peasant varietals.

Footnote: Polpetto is so perfectly lit that you wonder why every other restaurant gets it so badly wrong. Sitting with my dad in the warm orange glow of carbon filaments made us feel like we were in Greenwich Village, NYC rather than Soho, LDN. I will be back.
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Sean
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Saturday, March 05, 2011

Really badly overcooked food - they ruined the steak, sardines and artichokes - all leathery and tasteless. I wouldnt bother again. Food not a patch on Polpo.
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Anon - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Monday, February 07, 2011

Seems that the owners have taken a change of direction since my last visit. Prices have gone up A LOT, about 50% by my reckoning. No reservations is now a ridiculous policy of no table unless everyone in your party has arrived. 3 out of 4 of us were not allowed to get a table to start eating and drinking whilst we waited the 5 minutes until diner 4 arrived. In that time "our" table was given to a party of 3 who came after us, and we had to wait an hour before we could get seated. Then when you get a table you are "requested" to vacate within 2 hours. What happened to the laid back, stay as long as you want early days vibe? I could put up with this to a point if the food was still good, but it's not. Not only has it become expensive for what it is, but the food is nowhere near as good as it used to be. All in all a huge disappointment.
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Shappo
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, January 26, 2011

typical trattoria food that in italy costs about 7 pounds lunch times. better places abound to be honest but atmosphere is good. service was ok . The food is as said ordinary and doesnt match the prices asked.
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gary byrne
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Friday, September 17, 2010

A small but undeniably sexy space above one of Soho's best loved drinking establishments. Don't complain that you can't book for dinner - use the waiting time as an excuse to order a Breton cider before climbing the stairs, squeezing into one of the zinc tables and ordering tumblers of prosecco or carafes of surprisingly good wine served in typically tiny Venetian-style glasses.

What to order? Oh, everything! But definitely the pizzetta bianca (a Polpo classic); the refreshing pea, mint and fennel salad; the feisty chilli and garlic prawns; the addictive zucchini frites; and the polpette, meaty balls of deliciousness in a rich tomato sauce. Save room for waistline-friendly portions of tiramisu, sgroppino or beautifully creamy panna cotta with raspberries.

It's not for everyone, but if you liked Polpo, you'll love it here.
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-K- - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, August 26, 2010