I had planned to go out for dinner with some friends on Friday but being the disorganised sort that we are, hadn't made any firm plans or reservations as of Friday afternoon. While there are no end of good restaurants in London, its not the easiest feat to get a 7.30pm reservation for dinner at 4pm on a Friday night! With this in mind, we headed over to Covent Garden, where there are a few great 'walk-in only' restaurants lurking around.
We ended up dining at da Polpo, one of the trio of the 'Polpo' family, five similar but uniquely themed restaurants all created in a casual, rustic dining style, for example, da Polpo in the style of a Venetian wine bar. The others being Polpo, Polpetto and Spuntino in Soho and Mishkin's, also in Covent Garden.
The restaurant itself is really beautiful, old school, Italian themed with mismatched but strategically selected furniture and dim lighting, it has a very romantic atmosphere but the crowded layout and constant stream of patrons gives it an energetic buzz. It's clear that a lot of effort has gone into creating this atmosphere of casual nonchalance, from the waiters' laid back attire to the thick glass tumblers used as wine glasses, the intended ambiance is obvious. That's no insult as the intention is very much successful, and the atmosphere really is great and contributes to the entire dining experience, but I do find something wryly humorous to it all- sort of like a teenage girl spending three hours perfecting her "just rolled out of bed" hair.
The menu consisted of various themes, within which there was a few different selections. Each dish was served up in a small plate, 'tapas style' for sharing. Among the options were a variety of different pizzettes, meatballs, small plates, vegetables and cichetti (side dishes).
Among the selections we chose were the pizzettes: the fennel, salami and goat's cheese calzone (accompanied by a healthy portion of dressed rocket) was delicious- mild flavours which could have easily been overpowering worked well together although as a small dish, it was extremely filling; the wild mushroom pizzette was also very tasty, and showed restraint in its simplicity and finally, spinach, parmesan and soft egg which was exceptionally good, although perhaps slightly overloaded on the parmesan-laden spinach. Overall, the pizzettes are a definite must, really interesting toppings with a lovely, light crust.
Other dishes we tried were the grilled foccaccia, pork belly with raddicchio and hazelnuts, leek and fontina cauliflower gratin and the rosemary roast potatoes. The pork belly was exquisitely tender and full of flavour, although slightly lacking in the hazelnuts but the flavoursome broth made an ideal dipping sauce for the foccacia, which was also lovely, if slightly under-toasted. The potatoes were cut quite small and could have been a crispier but were a bit hit and not overpowered by the rosemary. The gratin was also fantastic, slightly al dente cauliflower smothered with the most luxurious, smooth and creamy sauce- a definite winner. My only regret is that we didn't get to try one of the selection of meatballs, which looked fantastic and had a great variety. No worries though, as I will definitely be back!
Overall this place it a definite hit- the food is really fantastic and I enjoy the sharing style of tapas eating, the decor and atmosphere is also great, and it is incredibly cheap. For three people to be absolutely stuffed, with two bottles of wine and an incredibly random 9.81% discretionary tip, the bill came to £88. It's a great place to bring someone you want to impress, or just to have a cosy meal and a few drinks on a Friday night! No reservations for dinner, so it's a nice option for a unplanned night out but I believe they take reservations for lunch if you're not the patient type- we got in almost immediately at 7.30pm but by 8pm there was quite a queue.
http://dapolpo.co.uk/?referrer=true#about_us
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