Restaurants

This branch of the upmarket chain is a little lost in the space between Covent Garden and the Strand, but don’t miss it, as Sofra serves top-quality food. The compact interior is long, thin, intimate and civilised. The wood floor is paired with a wooden bar, behind which rises a scarlet wall reminiscent of Özer , the flagship of the chain. On the first floor is another dining area, and there’s also a roof garden. On our visit, complimentary houmous and queen olives were of the highest quality. We followed these with mixed meze – memorably fresh broad beans, tarator, falafel and börek – presented on individual plates for each diner. Recently, Sofra has started to promote fish on its menus; we plumped for a commendable fillet of sea bream, which arrived atop mashed potato with a leek and rocket salad. The chain has also joined the recent fashion for serving steak, but we chose lamb külbastı, large squares of tender lamb fillet. Sofra also serves pideler (Turkish pizzas) and a range of daily specials. Service during our stay was good and very, very fast.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008