Review: Kapara, Soho
Review: Kapara, Soho
By Sara Colohan
Kapara has just launched a new sun lounge with a summer brunch menu, open all day and into the evening, alongside its already busy indoor restaurant.
It’s tucked between Greek Street and Tottenham Court Road, sheltered from the chaos of Soho outside, which is no small thing in one of London’s most restless, alive corners of town. Soho has always had that effect on me — I feel at least ten years younger every time I’m there, and some of my best nights out, best conversations and best meals have happened in and around these streets. Kapara sits right in the middle of all that energy and holds its own.
The chef and owner Eran Tibi has Syrian and Tunisian heritage and has appeared on MasterChef, so if Middle Eastern food done well is your forte then Kapara should be on your radar. Even the nibbles make the point: spiced maple nuts roasted with a shawarma mix, and milk bread served with a poppy seed, rose and lemon butter. Small things, but they set the tone early.
We started with the ceviche: the menu doesn’t specify the fish, and the write-up (buttermilk, sweet pickled mango, Turkish chilli, blackened green tomato pulp) could easily read as a vegetarian dish by mistake. It’s actually plenty of plump white fish, in a flavoursome buttermilk mix. Not a big plate to share, but enough for a tasty starter.
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The menu is structured to encourage grazing: nibbles, small plates, larger plates to share, and a separate grill section. That grill section is the highlight of the meal, by some distance. I only eat beef, no other meat, so I’d pinned a lot of hope on the beef skewers — and they held up well. Tender, cooked perfectly, served with an edgy green salsa verde that cut through the richness. The portion was generous, which meant less room for dessert later.
Beyond the skewers, there’s a butterflied bream with lemongrass, ginger and blood orange, and a large steak from the grill for sharing. The wider menu leans on unusual pairings, but balances that with dishes that are simply well-executed.
Dessert took some deciding — most of the list looked worth ordering. We went for the pistachio and Turkish coffee tiramisu, with white chocolate and pistachio cremo and kataifi, which was another genuine highlight. There’s also a Basque cheesecake with apricot, Swiss meringue and oregano, which sounded good, but after the beef skewers we only had room for one, and the tiramisu won out!
The wine list is strong, though I stuck to what I always do — Pinot Noir and it was a reliable smooth easy to drink number.
What Kapara does is break the rules gently, making the cuisine hard to label. I think ‘Middle Eastern with several twists’ covers it. The heritage behind the food is used properly, not just referenced for effect, and the kitchen backs it up with skill — the beef skewers alone are worth the visit.
Add in a new sun lounge for the warmer months, and a location that puts you right in the thick of Soho’s evening buzz, and this is a lovely restaurant that earns its place in one of London’s most crowded, most loved dining postcodes.
