Kopapa

Yes, I went out for diner in notorious tourist trap Convent Garden. You might say that as a Londoner I should know better, right?

To be fair,  the likes of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon or The Ivy have been around for quite a while if you wanted good food in the area. These are far from dead and have a loyal fan base. However, how many of us can truly afford these places? If they are outside your budget, the choice available hasn’t been particularly appealing so far.

For my own defence, where I eat out is not always a matter of choice. I regularly have to visit newly opened restaurants, as part of my job to find “fresh and exciting” foodservice operators who could be the “next big thing”. Sounds fun, but believe me, you have to put up with a lots of rubbish food and crap service. It’s a bit like Russian roulette. You might go to a small place, run by an independent ‘no name’ operator and get a really decent meal (still in love with Yalla Yalla in Soho) or you go to a ‘high profile’ opening, where big bucks were spend on the interior but food and service is ueber rubbish (I still get a stomach ache just by the thought of Otarian in Soho). Do not always believe the hype in the press.

Anyway, diverting the topic back to Covent Garden:

The area had a remarkable number of quality new openings over the last couple of months. Property Developers Shaftesbury just open St Martin’s Courtyard with a foodservice line up, such as the likes of Jamie’s Italian, Cantina Laredo, Dishoom Bombay Cafe and most recently Bill’s Produce Store.

I am not entirely convinced about Cantina Laredo, but the other operators are definitely a good addition to an area dominated by the likes of Bella Italia and other shitty branded operators.

Bill’s Produce Store aims to recreate the atmosphere of a traditional Farm Shop. The interior looked a bit artificial, but I can be cynical about it as much as I like. Ultimately it is the consumer who decides and they love the place.

Anyway, diverting the topic back why we actually went to Covent Garden:

Covent Gardens’ newest addition is Kopapa by Kiwi ueberchef Peter Gordon (The Providores). The visit to Kopapa for me and my Mrs was meant as treat from my boss for a well done job on a recent project, but the prospect of eating out in Convent Garden in a ‘fusion’ restaurant rather made me shiver than cause excitement. I am deeply suspicious about so called fusion food, but I gave it a go as the place has already established itself as one of the hot spots to eat out in the area.

My Mrs was also not particular exited that I dragged her all the way to Covent Garden so our dinner was not off to a good start with two dinners who didn’t really wanted to be there in the first place. However, we had the most exiting meal in a very, very long time.

Don’t be put off by the Canteen style interior of the place or the uncomfortable seating. What you get is Michelin star worthy food for not so Michelin star prices. The menu is quite comprehensive and even as Hospitality professional I struggled to understand half of the ingredients, but our waiter Shemek was brilliant. The menu was divided into different categories such as small Tapas style dishes, a variety of sharing platters and the “old school” starter-main-dessert compilation. Shemek was not only able to describe the dishes vividly, but was happy to suggest several dishes. Blindly trusting his opinion, we eventually ended up with a different order than planned. Before I start describing the dishes we had I have to warn you that I will repeatedly abuse the term ‘complimented’ and ‘balanced’, as that was exactly what all ingredients did on the plates, course after course. Peter Gordon does not just incorporate Asian ingredients into his cooking style, but also partly adopts their cooking philosophy. I am not throwing every Asian country into the same pot; these use different ingredients or cooking styles. However, what is very common is the play with contrasting textures and flavours. Asians love to pair crispy ingredients with soft ones or acidic ingredients with sweet ones. The aim is to add depth and complexity to dishes. Take for example the Sweet & Sour Soup from China or Tom Yam Soup from Thailand with chilli (Hot) and Lime juice (Sour). These are two different dishes from two different countries, but are made on same cooking principle of pairing contrasting flavours. If you still haven’t grasp it, think of our (less adventurous) equivalents of Pork Pie (Salty) & Piccalilli (Sour) or our Cheese (Salty) and Grapes (Sweet).   

Anyway, diverting the topic back to our food:

First dish to arrive was South Australian yellow tail Kingfish sashimi with yuzu beetroot salsa (£6.40). What you get is a Ceviche style dish made of chunky cut slices of super fresh fish dressed in a pungent citrus dressing with beetroot cubes to add a bit of much needed balancing sweetness. All ingredients worked beautifully together and perfectly complimented each other. Overall a very fresh, light dish bursting with contrasting flavours, bite after bite.

The second dish to arrive was equally good. The smoked Magret duck breast with goats curd, beetroot confit and pickled pineapple (£6.50) was skill-full prepared and lovingly presented. The smokiness of the duck worked perfectly with the creamy and rich goats curd and (again) with the citrusy pickled pineapple cubes, adding a much needed balance to the richness of the other ingredients.

For the main courses we went for the Lamb rack (£17.40) and Duck Confit (£16.00). But I guess Peter Gordon would not be Peter Gordon if the dishes would be served without a twist. The Lamb comes from New Zealand (what a surprise) and was ‘dusted’ with cumin and black pepper. As a supporting act, the meat was complimented by sweet Potato fondants, candied Aubergine puree and rosemary jus. There was the black pepper fighting with the sweetness of the caramelised Aubergine and sweet potato fondant, the aroma of the cumin fighting with the rosemary jus. When I say ‘fighting’ don’t think of a Cage fight, see it more like ‘two beautiful women covered in oil and mingling on the floor’ type of fight.

Also the duck confit did not disappoint us. The duck leg was of a decent size and prepared the old fashioned way, boiled soft in its own fat and fried crispy after. Any classic trained French chef would have find deep pleasure in eating it. Soft, juicy and flaky meat surrounded by a crispy fried skin. I could have eaten the leg just on its own, but again, it was the sides that really elevated the dish into culinary heaven. The sour cheery jus balanced perfectly with fatty richness of the duck and the crunchy bok choy added another contrasting texture to the dish. I was a bit mystified by the Malaysian twice-cocked potato dumplings. These were neither sweet, salty, hot, savoury nor sour. These neither tasted of anything, but tasted of something. Japanese have an additional flavour called Umami. It’s a kind of flavour which is there, but it’s not there. Japanese believe that Umami is present in particular ingredients, such as Bonito flakes (dried tuna). Whether Peter created this Umami factor deliberately or unintentional, the dumplings really added an interesting edge to the dish.

On closer inspection of what the neighbouring tables were having, we noticed that we were actually the only ones having ‘proper’ main courses. Everyone else in the restaurant was trying selections of hot and cold Tapas sized dishes. Although we enjoyed the main courses, we robbed ourselves of the opportunity to sample a wider variety of dishes. The selection of wines and cocktails was also very decent, but I was more curious about the New Zealand Steinlager beer. My wife had a Coke, her all time favourite.

While we had some of the most exciting dishes we ever tasted, I also wish to give a deserving praise the service we received. I previously stated that we had a brilliant service from our Waiter Shemek, but ‘brilliant’ means different things to different people. Very often a good service is simply defined by its procedural aspects and very often the conviviality factors seen as something nice to have, but not necessarily required.

While the procedural factors, such as standards, are important to provide a consistent product, it is the conviviality factors that make a restaurant visit truly memorable. Shemek knew the menu inside out, regularly toped up our water and was always at hand when needed. However, what made his service ‘brilliant’ were the little extras nobody expected him to do. Whether it was his excitement about the new dishes on the menu, or the times he came unasked at the table to check if we were well locked after. You can train staff to talk the right way, walk the right way or smile the right way. However, it is not difficult to spot the difference between fake or genuine. We had that night somebody locking after us, who genuinely cared about us having a good time (and so we did).  

Just to add a bit of moaning at the end: the seating was seriously uncomfortable and the tables were in my opinion not sufficiently spaced. Peter stayed loyal to the Interior designer, who also designed The Providores nine years ago. However, I do sometimes question if Interior designers actually ever bother to eat out. Maybe they do, who knows? The seating could have been designed deliberately uncomfortable, to ensure that customers do not stay longer than necessary.