plenty more

Oh how we have looked forward to this one – hard to describe 😉 Yotam Ottolenghi pinned the Israeli / Middle Eastern / Mediterranean fusion cuisine on the culinary world map as well as in numerous successful cookbooks: Sweet, Nopi, Plenty More, Jerusalem, Plenty and Ottolenghi. These cookbooks are also the source of kitchen inspiration for several Ottolenghi restaurants in the London area: Belgravia, NOPI, Spitalfields, Nothing Hill, Islington. With very tasty results, we can assure you. A visit to NOPI is hence a must on our London city trip. Our expectations are sky high.

Make a reservation as the restaurant, like the other Ottolenghi London restaurants, is popular. NOPI’s decor is sober with a golden touch and understated oriental accents. Nothing over the top, simple and good. Pure. Freshly baked bread and some deliciously filled large plates help you feel welcome. All looking and smelling very promising.

Those who enjoy kitchen action while eating, can opt to reserve at the large table downstairs. We would definitely recommend it…provided there is no chaos in the kitchen. Unfortunately on the day of our visit, so is chaos. Not the orchestrated chaos from a top notch kitchen, but disorganization and things that clearly fail.

We dive into the menu and order a number of different dishes for sharing. Including burrata, with coriander seeds, roasted eggplant with tamarind yoghurt, seared tuna with celery, broccoli and a perfect seasoning ….The tuna is our absolute favorite. It melted on our tongue. All other dishes are definitely good, but not top. Not the plus 100% we expected and hoped for. We missed seasoning… and let that be the term that we associate Ottolenghi with.

We call it a bad day in the kitchen. That can happen to everyone, right? We remain convinced that Ottolenghi is the taste-bomb-star and not victim of its own success. We promise ourselves to try again on a next visit to London.

Shots & Bites

A taste of (traveling around) the world

NOPI BY OTTOLENGHI | LONDON