Polpo Bacaro on Beak Street

[battleofthebulge]

Surprised no one has yet posted a review here as they've already managed to get Bloomberg ("London's hottest new eatery"), Time Out ("charming"), Evening Standard ("a winner for sure"), an hermanos ("cosy, bustling" and apparently Fay bin in. Lots more here: My link

I heard about it via a tweet from londoneating which directed me to their 'coming soon section', which lead me to their website and Russell Norman's tweets and thence to the Polpo fan page on facebook with information about the preview offer. By following @polposoho means that I now know that we shared our preview evening last Saturday with not only Martin Fry (ABC, sans gold lurex) but also Sebastian Horsley, sans crucifix. Russell's ploy, also noted by Time Out, is that anyone semi-famous gets put at the tables closest to the entrance; if your 5 minutes of fame include losing a university debate or playing for the first XV against Wilminster Boys then you get ushered to the back of the room.

The room has been expensively distressed with lovely open brickwork and oldified paintwork. There's rather a lot of 'oh we're being expensively cheap, how ironic' going on. I dislike the menus printed in black ink on brown paper, which you can't read in the gloom, and I especially don't like the minimalist wine list clipped to a little clipboard, again in cheap black ink on cheap brown paper which immediately gets smudged with olive oil. However, that's all I dislike. It would have been easy to carp about the service, which was junior and inexperienced but also incredibly overworked. I hope that as the place settles in they will get the measure of what it's all about and also not have to work 100 hour weeks.

It has to be said that none of this hype would have happened if the food was crap. It's not, it's great. Tom Oldryd, ex-Boca di Lupo, has created a tremendous selection of plates, and Russell has been generous in his pricing. There are many more details in other reviews but I would like to add my vote to the cuttlefish in ink. Although impossible to see in the gloom, so that eating it is a bit like fishing for liquorish sweets in a tin of black paint, it is tender and chewy at the same time and with lots of deep salty flavour. The mackerel tartar was also a great dish, incredibly fresh and zingy, but not too fishy. And the chocolate sponge dessert was a wonderfully gooey, creamy end to an excellent meal. Thanks to the preview, lots of food, a bottle of prosecco, 500ml of red and coffees for 4 people was £100. However even if we'd eaten at full rates it would still have only been £130. A great bargain for the location and the quality of cooking. We will be back just as soon as everyone else has finished discovering it.

Sarah

[sunbeam]

I'd have thought seating semi celebs near the front would put potential diners off, not on.

'London's hottest new eatery' sounds both a bit camp and a lot like PR gush. That's quite a big claim to make after all, but as it's in the next street to me I might amble in and see which seat I get. And I will take a torch.

S

[battleofthebulge]

I should just like to point out (before the carpies set upon me) that of course I meant mackerel tartare as in raw, minced, rather than mackerel tartar as in the brown stuff that builds up on teeth.

Sarah

Edited November 29, 2009 by heidih
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[sunbeam]

Went for lunch, not bad, not great. Tables far too close together, I had my elbow in someone else's plate, confused young staff, rather up themselves senior staff. Food a curate's egg. They are riding a PR inspired wave right now but here in Soho we are nothing if not fickle and shallow.

S

ps for a proper curate's egg, boil for 4 minutes.

[battleofthebulge]

Shame the food seems to be getting ever more mixed reviews.

And they have now instigated a no-bookings policy for dinner, presumably on the basis that they can currently fill all the tables anyway and no-res means a faster table turn.

Sounds like you still have to be at least a D-list sleb in order for Russell to notice you when you walk in. Steve 2 and I popped in on Thursday, but it was full, I couldn't get any acknowledgement from Russell, so we carried on to Champers and had a good evening with charming service and an excellent Alsatian Pinot Gris.

Will be going to HIX in a few weeks; hope the food there doesn't slide downhill as rapidly after opening.

Sarah

[David Dowell]

We liked this place.

Got to get there at 18:00 sharp if you want seating! that's sure. A very fast take off from their start.

We found the food quite good.

We sat at the bar which provided fun entertainment.

[Richardvines]

Polpo's Soho offshoot will be a New York speakeasy-style venue called Spuntino, with fewer than 30 covers. Most diners will sit at the bar. Details: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601040&sid=aOPZ6XL_57Nk

[david goodfellow]

Not quite sure why this place has not had more reviews. Its been a foodie hot spot since it opened.

We went recently, and I will post my review soon.

Anyone else been of late?

[countryboy]

Yeah, I went to Polpetto about a month, three weeks ago (?) when it first opened. Great atmosphere. Food didn't blow me away. Service was great, wine was amazing, Fergus henderson was sitting next to me. I was there with a chef friend and he has a bit of a tendency to be over critical to be honest, but still, there were big weaknesses in the dishes.

I will be going again though. Just like Pulpo, It's about more than the food.

[Man]

Not quite sure why this place has not had more reviews. Its been a foodie hot spot since it opened.

We went recently, and I will post my review soon.

Anyone else been of late?

Looking forward to your review! I haven't been but a chef friend of mine whom I trust liked it, he said it offered simple but good Italian dishes properly prepared and at good prices. It looks like London is offering more and more of such places - hope they start coming to Scotland too.

[david goodfellow]

Well it does not seem like a couple of months since visiting here. Approaching its first anniversary and with the imminent opening of its sister restaurant Polpetto I thought we had better get around to trying out this place. It does not bother me to be last to arrive at a party, but considering every blogger and their brother has reviewed this place what now seems an age ago, it was good to get my skates on.

The feeding frenzy has at last died down but it was as busy and buzzy as ever on our Sunday lunchtime visit.

In its previous life it was an Italian restaurant called Aperitivo. Perhaps the name hinting at the small plate formula that sadly failed to keep it in business.

I never visited the place but can not help but wonder if some of the fixtures and fittings have been re-used to help the start up costs.

Now I know a bit about business, but not a lot about the restaurant business, and start up costs, most especially in our great Capital must be very high indeed. Not so here me thinks, co owner Russell Normans expertise as former operations director with Caprice Holdings have stood him in good stead. Bare brick walls are the work of a labourer and a skip not a tradesman. The distressed effect throughout certainly had me distressed on my visit to the loos where a lick of paint would do no harm at all.

All the better of course to tempt more people inside, as clearly it does not smack of money, it makes it accessable to all.

On entering, there is an inviting bar for perhaps a dozen or so people with the restaurant proper opening up to the rear for perhaps another fifty or so.

The very clever "no bookings" policy in the evenings adds to profitability, as punters quaff away at the bar waiting up to an hour and a half for a table.That is not my scene, I am of an age when I enjoy some kind of certainty in my eating times.

We were lucky in one respect to be given a table for two, by a window, looking into a small courtyard, sadly though it was the "rocky table"

Oh no I here you cry not the bloody "rocky table" Yes the bloody "rocky table"

Fortune shone on us, the wedge was in leg stretching distance so no need to summon the overstreched, but nevertheless pleasant wait staff.

The brown paper placemat doubles as a menu and makes exciting reading for any foodie. Prices start at an unbelievable quid, yes one english pound and mostly hover around the four, five, and six range.

The most expensive at £11.50 is "A plate of cold meats" but this is way out of kilter with the other prices.

Mackerel tartare with horseradish (£5.50)was lovingly mixed with cucumber capers and radish, the accompanying crispy flatbread, carta di musica, tasted of nothing and was rock hard which spoiled an otherwise good dish.

Fritto Misto (£7) was a non greasy serving of fresh Whitebait, Squid rings and Prawns. Crispy, crunchy, with the zing of citrus, just right really.

I,m a sucker for Clams, On our very frequent visits to Miami,s South Beach during th 90,s I could not wait to check through customs and head off to the long sadly defunct Mezanotte, to eat Linguine Vongole, if ever a food memory lingers. that is the one for me. It became a ritual for us, and an endearing memory.

Now its obvious this is not in the same league, still it was decent enough, especially for £6.

I have never eaten Bulls testicles, but my mind ran riot when these monsters arrived at the table.

Polpette (£5) described as "mostly pork" by our waitress.

I suppose Veal, or a bit of Beef could have been in them, I could not make out which, as they were masked by a rich, dense, well seasoned tomato sauce. Trully delish and a meal in themselves, an absolute bargain.

We just had to try the Spinach, Parmesan, and soft egg Pizzetta (£4.50) a thin chewy based mini pizza with a gooey topping. The parmesan tickling the taste buds between the hit of spinach and sticky egg yolk.

This was a recommend from our server and it was a good choice.

Now by this time, most folks would be happily sated and I happily admit to being nearly full but too late we had already ordered so there was no going back.

Chicken cotoletta (£6) Was a tasty, moist on the inside, escalope, correctly seasoned, and paired with melting onions and pan fried little gem lettuce. Not bad at all.

Calves Liver, onions and sage (£6) was a hearty portion. Thankfully it was extremelly tender, as were the onions, however, it was lacking in flavour, and even with extra seasoning it did not rise to the occasion.

The Grilled, sliced flank Steak, with white truffle cream (£7) is a steal, and for my money a must try.

Nicely charred on the outside, cooked to perfection on the in, with just the right amount of "chew" to it. It went down a treat. The flecked black pepper and peppery moist rocket leaves did there bit well.

Don't ask me how two people could eat all of that food, I'm like a kid in a sweet shop looking at such an inviting menu.

From memory I think I did ask if chef Tom Oldroyd was in the kitchen and seem to think a negative was the answer. Still no worries everything ran well without him so perhaps his boss will allow him a bit more time away from the stove. Most certainly the kitchen was on song.

All of the above came to £72 which included a bottle of Sangiovese, tap water, but no coffees, but included 12.5% service.

Most people could happily eat for a lot less, but in the interests of research we pushed the boat out a bit.

Do go, its very enjoyable, but be lucky, just watch out for that bloody "rocky table".

[Man]

Brilliant report David, thanks. The fritto misto and the cotoletta di pollo look classily executed, better than in very many places in Italy! And the polpette, that classic of Italian home cooking and so difficult to find in restaurants (because of a 'natural suspicion' about what restaurants put in them...) made me dribble.

I must definitely try it the next time I'm in London.

PS: when the waitress said the polpette contained 'mostly pork' she might have been referring to the fact that there is an egg or two in the mix, not necessarily other types or meat or beef.

[david goodfellow]

Hi Man, encouraging words, much appreciated.

We visited Polpetto today and was hoping Tom Oldroyd was in the kitchen but no such luck, still we enjoyed it and will post a report in due course.

I stumbled on thisvery interesting and topical article on polpette, Polpetto, and Tom Oldroyd. He does indeed add beef to his "meatballs" but I admit in my review that I was clueless, good to know the facts.

We tried the duck ones mentioned in the article, jolly good too.

[Harters]

Good review, David.

As always, you and Mrs G seem my sort of eaters. I think the technical term is "greedy bastards"

[Pam Brunning]

You took the words out of my mouth, John!

[david goodfellow]

I thought greed was good, at least thats what they say in the movies.

I,m sure you would not have me any other way, it makes for better reading (I think).