Polpo

Press Reviews (11)

• Jay Rayner (18th January 2010)
  
  Correctly cutting through the flannel about this being a Venetian-style restaurant, the critic correctly notes that it is “exactly the sort of place you'd find in New York's Soho [sic], even down to the staff who are skinny and bed-haired, and look like they kick back after service by doing the sort of things they would never dream of telling their mothers about.” In short, it is a “highly studied, minutely finessed urban restaurant”. Fortunately, though, it is “one which shrugs off the burden of the poseur – being branded all style and no substance – by dint of the food”.
• Jasper Gerard (4th January 2010)
  3.5/5
  
  “The emphasis is on affordability, informality and vitality. And it works”, says the critic, who is impressed by this New York-style Soho ‘bacarao’ (or “Venetian pub”).
• Zoe Williams (14th December 2009)
  8.5/10
  
  The critic visits this “kicking” Soho Venetian tapas bar, and find almost everything about it pleases her.
• AA Gill (16th November 2009)
  4/5 stars
  
  “This is simply the best value in the West End”. “[I]f you are young and want a cheap, good, fun date restaurant, there really isn’t a better one in London”, says the critic, than this “Greenwich Village”-style Soho Venetian. On the downside, though, you may have to queue.
• Giles Coren (9th November 2009)
  7
  
  After a bit of a wait, our hero finally gains admission to the critical-rave (now no-booking) Soho newcomer. His review is a nice corrective to some of the overdone early-days crits: “The food is Venetian and nothing to get over-excited about. The chef is from Bocca di Lupo, two minutes up the road, but the cooking is not in that league. It’s like old-fashioned Soho trattoria stuff served in fashionably small portions for sharing… [M]any of the dishes were blurred, indistinct and erratically seasoned. But I had a lovely time.”
• Toby Young (26th October 2009)
  16/20
  
  This place doesn’t serve Italian tapas, we are told, but “Venetian” “chicheti” – all part of “the spiel” that has “created an air of authenticity” around this new Soho “bacari” (a bit like a tapas bar) – a place the critic seems to feel is likely to succeed. It has a “rustic, cheap-as-chips feel” and produces some “excellent” (and particularly speedy) dishes.
• Guy Dimond (8th October 2009)
  4/5 stars
  
  TO’s long-established head critic can see “influences from both Venice and London” in Soho smash-hit of the moment (Curiously, he seems to have missed the, in our view, screamingly obvious New York influence to which proprietor Russell Norman happily admits.) Wine, we read come from “four good importers”, but are dispensed – “disingenuously” – into tumblers, not wine glasses. (What does that mean, we wonder?) On the food front, he discerns “an almost Protestant simplicity and intensity”. Overall, however, we do know this is a “favourable” review, because the critic tells us so. It must have been a good experience, because he forms this benign opinion even though he was seated in Siberia. Not, of course, that he uses such a New York-esque term for the concept.
• Richard Vines (8th October 2009)
  3/4 stars
  
  “The menu at Polpo is made up of about 40 dishes, which start at 1.20 pounds ($1.91) for potato- and-Parmesan croquette and rise to 6.90 pounds for grilled sliced flank steak and flat mushrooms”, the critic tells us. “Chuck in a wine list with about 25 options available by the quarter or half liter, a cool-looking room and service that’s friendly and you have a winner.”
• Marina O'Loughlin (8th October 2009)
  3/5 stars
  
  “Sigh… It's Bocca di Lupo all over again – a good, mid-range Italian elevated to superstar status in a matter of minutes due to Reasonably Priced London Restaurant In Decent Food Shock. Well, that and the manipulation of social media.” From the beginning of this review of the Twitterati hit of the moment, you know that she’s going to end up a little underwhelmed.
• Nick Lander (5th October 2009)
  
  The critic is pleased to discover that London now has its own ‘bacaro’ – a traditional Venetian wine bar. The narrow premises on Soho’s Beak Street have been given many “clever details” by owner Russell Norman (ex-Caprice Holdings), and has an “air of authenticity”. The critic enjoys the ‘chicheti’ (Venetian tapas) and “satisfying” larger dishes, and hopes that the place will soon have a “genuine buzz”.
• David Sexton (1st October 2009)
  3/5 stars
  
  Russell Norman (ex-Caprice Holdings) has, we are told, opted for “a smaller, more personal place” for his first solo venture. The Venetian restaurant in Soho “actually delivers much the same format” as the previous resident, Aperitivo, with former Bocca di Lupo chef Tom Oldroyd bringing to bear his expertise in “Italian tapas”. The critic is consistently impressed by the tastiness of the “little bites” and “meatier dishes” he samples. Prices are “[m]odest” (though we are warned, “as in all small plate places”, it’s easy to rack up quite a bill), and he deems this place “a winner, for sure”.