Copita

Emily and I had planned to try out Burger and Lobster, our efforts hampered by being ever late to the party, and even later to the queue (7:30ish), we were confronted by a 2 hour wait, thanks, in part, to a glowing write up from Marina in that morning's Metro.

We head back in the direction of Soho towards Copita just around the corner from my work.  I've walked by every morning since January and most days witness one of their suppliers arriving laden with delicious looking goods.  I enjoy that little glimpse into life at Copita and had been eager to try some of those ingredients out.

That evening, we arrived and with welcome ease secured a perch for 2, no hour long wait here.  The deal is Spanish small plates, ideal for sharing, or not with a daily changing menu and wines available by the glass.  Love.

We ordered a bottle of Navarra 'young' Sabina Tempranillo 2010.  At £19 a bottle, it's the 2nd, not the,  cheapest on the menu!  It was lovely.  Also 'young', the La Vendimia Tempranillo 2010 Rioja was nice and the wine list fairly extensive.

To eat we began with some bread, £1 for a generous amount of really good baguette and the pea, truffle oil and mozzarella croquettes.  I have a serious thing for croquettes, and simply can't avoid ordering them.

These ones were good, but not a patch on my favourites.  Best dish of the night was the chicken kiev.  Massively garlicky, served with a white bean mash and greens.  This dish made me return a few weeks later with a group of colleagues and the 2nd time there was no sharing!

We also tried the smoked mushroom and molten egg yolk dish, slightly gloopy in texture, luckily we had some bread left, but the flavours are good.  A crunchier offering came in the form of the tomato and anchovy on crispbread which reminded me of a similar dish at MoVida Aqui in Melbourne, that one had a tomato sorbet which sets it higher in my regard due to the accompanying sensation.  Copita's is also good.  Though, I see on the sample menu on the website, anchovy with broad bean ice cream, a similar concept.

I also sampled some sardines, boquerones style, very fresh and clean and some large scallops served in the shells in a buttery sauce.  Delicious.

For dessert Emily and I halved a custard tart and some wonderful churros with a bitter chocolate sauce, these were very good.

You can book at lunchtimes, evenings are first come first served and I reckon I'll be back, some are raving about their ajo blanco which I'd really like to try.  London is becoming a little overrun right now with Spanish eateries but I think Copita certainly carves it's own niche, with interesting enough dishes to set it apart from many of it's lesser contemporaries.  I spent around £30 on each visit so it's cheaper than many of them too.  

Copita
26 D'arblay Street
Soho
W1F 
7/10