Nopi on Warwick Street: what to order and when to go
Ottolenghi's full-service Soho restaurant on Warwick Street, with the plates to order, the hours to book and what a table costs.
By Only Soho Editorial
Nopi is the name that comes up when people want Ottolenghi with a tablecloth, or at least a marble tabletop. It sits at 21 to 22 Warwick Street, on a quiet street between Piccadilly Circus and Carnaby Street, which puts it on the Carnaby & Kingly side of Soho.
What it is
The restaurant calls itself "the definitive Ottolenghi restaurant", giving the Ottolenghi approach to flavour the full restaurant treatment. Hot Dinners describes it as his first full-blown London restaurant, following the delis, and Hardens calls it the Soho flagship, a full-service room unlike the café-delis. The Nudge describes whitewashed brick, marble and gold, and food that is Asian-influenced Middle Eastern.
The drinks list leans low-intervention on wine, with seasonal cocktails built around house shrubs and spiced syrups. Punch notes it was the first Ottolenghi venue to wrap a cocktail programme around the food.
A short history
The name is short for North of Piccadilly. It opened in 2011: The Caterer's launch piece, dated 2 March 2011, described an all-day brasserie in Soho. Ramael Scully was head chef from the opening, and his Malaysian-influenced cooking shaped much of the early menu. In the introduction to NOPI: The Cookbook, Ottolenghi says he spent the first years trying to curb Scully's Asian tendencies before giving in.
Andy Hayler's 2012 review put the room at about 120 seats, with the upstairs dining area twice as large as the part you can see from the street.
Where to sit
Upstairs has individual tables seating up to six. Downstairs has two large sharing tables overlooking the open-plan kitchen and larder. For watching the cooking, take the downstairs seat. For a conversation, go up.
What to order
The menu is split into veg, fish and meat sharing plates, and it changes with the seasons, so check the live menu before you set your heart on anything. Past signatures include courgette and manouri fritters, coriander seed-crusted burrata with blood orange, and a Valdeón cheesecake, though none appear on the current OpenTable menu.
From that menu, start with the focaccia and olive oil (£6.50) or crispy shimeji mushrooms (£7.50). Then lean on the vegetable plates: cauliflower with miso butter (£18), Kashmiri roasted carrots (£16.50) or aubergine with Datterini tomatoes (£17). One Tripadvisor reviewer rated the vegetable dishes above the meat and fish, which is a single diner's view but fits the way the menu reads. If you want fish, lemon trout is £28 and prawns saganaki £30.50. To finish, a 15-year Eagle Rare bourbon is £15.
When to go
- Lunch: OpenTable singles out the set lunch as a draw and recommends the lunchtime visit. Hours are 11.30am to 3pm Monday to Thursday, 11.30am to 5pm Friday and Saturday, and midday to 4pm on Sunday. We have no price for the set lunch, so confirm it when you book.
- Pre-theatre: Luxury London lists Nopi among the best pre-theatre menus. OpenTable shows dishes to share at £46 per person. They are shared plates, so ask how they will be paced.
- Dinner: five to ten Monday to Saturday. There is no Sunday dinner. On a Wednesday, like today, it is lunch from half eleven to three and dinner from five to ten.
Weekend lunch has long been a favourite, with a brunch-style following.
Prices and booking
OpenTable shows a price band of £41 and over, Michelin gives it three pound signs, and TheFork puts the average spend at about £50. Tripadvisor lists mains such as farro risotto at £29, black lime spring chicken at £38 and seabass at £39.50. Dress is smart casual, families dine here, and staff can provide a gluten-free menu on request.
Book through the restaurant's own page, which routes to Seven Rooms, or on OpenTable. The phone number is 020 7494 9584. The nearest stations are Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square.
OpenTable diners give it about 4.5 from roughly 4,900 reviews, with service the strongest mark at 4.8. The Michelin Guide lists it as World Cuisine.
The short version
Go at lunch for the set menu or at five for an early table, sit downstairs if you want the kitchen in view, and order the vegetable plates first. Cauliflower with miso butter is the one to start with.
