NOPI

An oasis of warmth and originality in Soho, Nopi is a classy, professional and adventurous restaurant.
Despite my reservation not being in the system (possibly an open table issue), the host took it in his stride and found a table for me without an issue.
Being led through the restaurant, the unique décor of all white tiles and brick, dimly lit through copper uplight fixtures, presented a mood one could describe as a sexy, sultry subway — if such a thing were to exist. Alas, on the music front they went for boppy background shit when they could have completed the picture with some gritty blues/​jazz reminiscent of an old blind African American busking guitarist in that subway, or at least something more original than dated café Del mar shit.
I went for their spin on an old fashioned with Rooibos tea and chocolate bitters which was brilliant. The wine selection was equally brilliant — with some adventurous departures like a Sicilian Catarratto which is pretty unique (salty white wine!)… The Italian barbera (bandita cascina tavijn) was also pretty damn good, albeit traditional.
Food wise, the cougette fritters were good, but nothing to write home about. The mullet I had to try, because as my father says — «you can’t make strawberry jam from pig shit», but they managed admirably through a creative Indian stock with potatoes and mustard. The pork belly was an absolute standout — sweet pumpkin and a walnut Apple salsa worked perfectly!
Staff were attentive and engaged, speed — a little rushed but not excessively and noise a nice balance of bustle with intimacy.
Overall 4 stars — worth a visit and actually better value than I was expecting…
Stop press… As I finish this review at their bar area (perfect for single diners) I am having a final cocktail — a Chilli Old Fashioned with Anejo, bloody delicious to finish!!!
I hope this helps your visit. Enjoy!

Awesome food!!!
Highly recommended if you are vegetarian or pescatarian.
Drinks were great too!

I usually don’t come out of restaurants, especially expensive ones, feeling satisfied with my experience. Nopi was a nearly perfect restaurant. I wouldn’t say it was the best tasting food I have ever had, but it was the most interesting and thoughtful food experience.

wow. what a great little place that features the wonderful food of Ottolenghi, one of the stars of middle eastern food in London with loads of places. We were eating downstairs, which is literally two big communal tables in the storage area of the open kitchen. you can watch the concentrated flow of the talented kitchen staff and enjoy lovely and high quality middle eastern dishes. We shared a couple of nice ones from the starter section (perfect for a communal table) and followed the advice of the nice couple sitting next to us and ordered the chicken, which was truly tasty. you have too book in advance.

This is a MUST GO stop for any foodie visiting London! The food is absolutely delicious. There is always a large array of wonderfully innovative salads that will wow your taste buds with unthinkable combinations. Great place to stop for a bite to eat after a long day shopping or dinner with family and friends. Atmosphere is laid back yet proper. Also love their other restaurant in East London Ottolenghi.

Wer Ottolenghi’s Küche mag ist hier sehr gut aufgehoben. Kühles, zurückhaltendes Ambiente im Bistrostil trifft kreative, nicht nur vegetarische Küche. Die Speisen sind schmackhaft und qualitativ hochwertig. Auch der Service funktioniert sehr gut und ist aufmerksam. Einzig das m.E. doch überzogene Preisniveau selbst für Londoner Verhältnisse trübt den Gesamteindruck etwas. Also aufgemerkt und Kleingeld nicht vergessen. Wir liessen für 6 Tapasähnliche Gänge mit zwei Gläsern Wein rund 80£ liegen…

This is a fabulous restaurant! 100% recommend!
All our food was delicious, our cocktails and wines were beautiful and the service was fantastic.
A must for all foodies.

Excellent food. I ordered a bunch of vegetarian dishes and was pleasantly surprised at the attention to detail in how they were prepared. Flavorful. Courgette and Manouri fritters are highly recommended.
You must reserve in advance. I had to change them a couple of times and they were most accommodating.

For the sake of this review let’s generalise for a minute and split the world of restoration into two categories: the one that has dishes made tasty by a variety of strong flavours and ingredients aplenty, and the one that focuses on few ingredients, but REALLY good ones.
Nopi is definitely part of the latter category. It’s your typical ‘pay a lot for smallish portions’ and yet you leave the restaurant with a singing palate.
I took one of my best friends there for her birthday and I’m really happy I did: we ordered two starters/​nibbles dishes and 4 dishes to share, which included a bit of everything: from veggie crudités to burrata, from aubergines to scallops, and every thing was spot-​on. The flavours were incredible.
Nicely presented too, which I always like. We were actually wondering where can they possibly source such good and fresh ingredients.
We had lunch upstairs (I believe there is a downstairs too, with communal tables). The room is bright and airy, there’s space to move around the tables without knocking someone’s vino down with your butt (don’t ask) and the tables for two can actually accommodate two people PLUS the food. Amazing, right? I’m so used to having to push plates around to fit everything in some restaurants.
We also tried their orange wine, which was very yummy.
I’d definitely go back, probably to try something from their dinner menu. Very impressed, bravo NOPI!

One of my best friends just got dubbed Elite. So I gave her a restaurant challenge for my Birthday. Obviously, she used Unilocal,and took me to NOPI. It was amazing, and you should go too.
My mother is a MASSIVE fan of Ottolenghi, and has been experimenting from his Jerusalem book for the past 3 years. My mum is an amazing cook so I was really excited about this.
The venue is a great representation of the food you will be served: simple, but tasteful and original. You feel that you are in a nice place, but didn’t have an over-​the-​top feel to it — you feel welcome.
The menu is divided into 3 main sections:
— Nibbles
— Mains
— Sharing
My friend and I having similar culinary tastes, we decided to go for a mix of dishes from the Nibbles and Sharing, and we went for:
— Vegetables with avocado: as simple as it gets, but with amazing seasoning that just brings out the flavour of amazing products. Just make sure you like radish and baby carrots.
— Prosciutto: good prosciutto doesn’t need much. It was perfect
— Burrata: With grilled coriander. Oh. My
— Aubergine with yoghurt
— Pork Shoulder Croquette: SO TENDER AND TASTY
— Scallops
May I also recommend the Vitovska wine? It is an orange wine that goes really well with the sharing platter.
I would say that we ordered the perfect amount of food to feel full but not stuffed. The products used are incredibly tasty and fresh, and with flavours you wouldn’t usually be used to — which turns the whole meal into a great culinary experience.
When can we go back?

What can I say about NOPI? It’s simply put, one of the best meals I’ve had in my entire life.
A few weeks before coming to spend a few days in London, my party of four booked reservations to sit in the communal downstairs section of the restaurant. We planned our day for sight-​seeing out to make sure we were a short walk away in time for our reservation. An easy walk 15 minute walk from Buckingham Palace, we were greeted at the restaurant by a friendly and pleasant staff. We sat at the end of a long table that can seat about 14 – 16 people. The table was quite tall and I usually find these uncomfortable, as tall chairs cut off circulation in my short chubby legs; however, these seats were perfectly comfortable. Our table neighbors were all friendly but respected that we were a group of friends having dinner together and kept conversation with us to a few polite interactions.
I started my meal with a cocktail that was amazingly delicious: a Rooibos Old Fashion. Made with Fernet Branca and chocolate bitters, the bourbon and rooibos tea syrup blend so well that I could have had four of five of them and skipped dinner altogether. Everyone else also seemed to enjoy their cocktails that night: one had a Ginseng & Grapefruit, another a Banana & Cardamom, and lastly, a Raspberry & Bourbon. All were a hit!
We decided to have our dinner «tapas» small plate style and split everything between us. We shared Jicama & salsa, vegetable crudités, olives, burrata & blood orange salad, beetroot & goat’s curd salad, cheese w/​peaches, and a Kale, Apple, and Turnip salad.
When I say that all of these were amazing… my words do not do them justice. All were a revelation of how good properly prepared vegetables can be. Everyone agreed that we could have had a purely vegetarian meal and walked out delighted. My personal favorite was the beetroot and goat’s curd salad — which I declared would be the last thing I tasted with the meal before dessert.
We also ordered two mains to split between the four of us: the seared tuna and the rotolo. Both were phenomenal. The tuna was cooked perfectly and prepared in such a way that if you were to close your eyes you would believe you were eating a delicate cut of beef. The rotolo, made with spinach, mushrooms, and a walnut miso, was also just incredible. We all agreed that the mains would have been wonderful meals to have alone if we weren’t in a sharing mood.
Lastly, dessert (aka puddings) — We ordered three for us to share: I had chocolate with orange oil and crème fraîche… it was chocolate heaven with a sultry richness that should be illegal. We also ordered an apple gingerbread trifle with celery sorbet… I didn’t try any because I was in a chocolate nirvana but more than one person raved over the celery sorbet. We also had a tau fu fa (a type of tofu pudding) that was also delicious!
This was easily the best meal I’ve had in London and one of the best in my life. You can bet that whenever I am in London, I’ll make sure I have a reservation for the downstairs at NOPI.