Kopapa
Price guide: Mid-range
32-34 Monmouth Street, London, WC2H 9HA
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#19 of 115
expert-rated restaurants in London- Recommended for:
- Business travellers, Culture vultures, Families with teenagers, Foodies, Singles, Design and architecture, People watching, Shopping, Trendiness
Expert review of Kopapa
The big kahuna of fusion cuisine has found a larger stage in Covent Garden.
I was never not going to like this place. The only problem with Peter Gordon’s Marylebone restaurant The Providores & Tapa Room is its diminutive proportions, so the prospect of a larger café-brasserie in another useful part of town is as delicious as, well, smoked coconut tamarind laksa and a wasabi martini.
Food and drink:
The menu is reminiscent of the Providores & Tapa Room but not a carbon copy. For breakfast, try the not-sweet, not-savoury ricotta fritters with avocado, rocket and pomegranate salad and pistachio caramel sauce. Kopapa’s express and pre-theatre menu sticks to the traditional two-or-three courses, but the all-day menu encourages grazing and sharing. I can't wait to go back and try the sticky coconut pork ribs – they are the invention of (another New Zealander) head chef Leigh Hartnett, rather than Peter Gordon – AA Gill apparently hated them, but they sure sound scrummy. As you might expect, there are good New Zealand wines and beers on offer, but the list is international.
Ambience:
Relaxed with a sophisticated trendiness. I love the floor.
Service:
Could be pacier, but they handled our very specific cooking requests with aplomb.
Location:
One of Covent Garden’s coolest streets, with plenty of boutique shopping, and a load of other interesting restaurants and bars nearby. After a spell in the doldrums, Covent Garden is attracting real Londoners again, not just tourists.
Price advice:
Spend as little or as much as you want. Tapas are £2.20-£7, sharing platters £9-£10.50. Breakfast options start at £2.80 for toast and jam and meander up to £10.50 for hot smoked salmon on toast with poached eggs, spinach and yuzu hollandaise. Cappuccino is £2.80, a cucumber mojito or bloody mary £8.50.
Other useful branches:
The Providores & Tapa Room is on Marylebone High Street – and reviewed here.
More information on Kopapa:
- Price guide:
- Type:
- Café, Restaurant, Tapas bar
- Food:
- Fusion
- Address:
- 32-34 Monmouth Street, London, WC2H 9HA
- Telephone:
- 020 7240 6076
- Website:
- http://www.kopapa.co.uk
- Serves:
- Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner
- Opening times:
- Mon-Fri 8.30am-10.45pm; Sat 10am-10.45pm; Sun 10am-9.45pm.
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Reservations:
- Suggested
- Free tags / Keywords:
- celebrity chef
