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You’ve licked the last morsel off your plate and argued over settling the bill. More often than not, all I can think about at this point is retiring to my sofa and cradling my food baby. Sometimes – small plates, I’m looking at you – I’m left unsatisfied, fixated on my next conquest (falafel wrap?). Only rarely will I be thinking about necking shots and finding a dancefloor. But after a meal at Kapara, it really did feel like the night was just beginning. Indulgence is on the menu here, and boy, do they know how to do it right.
Kapara is the latest venture from ex-Ottolenghi chef Eran Tibi, who is also the brains behind Southwark’s Bala Baya, another Tel Aviv-inspired restaurant with a comparable clubby vibe. In Soho’s new Ilona Rose House development, Kapara is a high-ceilinged modern space where the lights are low and the music pumps politely. The vibe is lively, to say the least, and the menu is just as flirty (dishes have naughty names like ‘cheeky bums’ and ‘sticky treat’).
There’s a similarly scantily named drinks menu, featuring Israeli wine and soda infusions (go for the lemon and rose for a zingy refresher), as well as genuinely interesting cocktails. The Space Cowboy, made with olive oil-washed mezcal, bourbon, sumac, plum cherry tomato juice, and herbs, was weirdly complex: as though I’d swallowed the dust from the bottom of a spice rack, but in a good way. The Katani, a short Espresso Martini served with cardamom and a creamy, coconut milk foam, was described as ‘a short pick-me-up that also fucks you up’. Fuck me up, so it did.
The menu here is about contrasts: citrus with smoke, soft with crunch
Kapara brings out the food when it’s ready, which makes the whole eating experience feel like a teasing game of duck-duck-goose with your stomach. Go for a mix of small and big plates: the crispy pita chips with a deliciously zingy cod roe and lemon dip was welcome starter, swiftly followed by a melt-in-your-mouth smoky aubergine heart laden with pine nut jam and clementine marmalade. The houmous wasn’t basic beige sludge but a proper lucky dip of aubergine, tomato, sumac, clementine (?), and God knows what else. The whole thing was marvellously creamy and could well have been a meal in itself if we weren’t feeling so greedy.
The menu here is about contrasts – citrus with smoke, soft with crunch – which, for the most part, made each dish a joy to sink your teeth into. They didn’t always get it right, though. The strange contrasting textures of polenta cod chops encased in a crystallised citrus glaze made them a challenging eat, while chicken skewers with butter chilli, purple lettuce and house pickle could have done with some extra zing or a sharp sauce to cut through the heaviness of the meat.
With an influencer-like clientele posing next to their prawn baklava and a calculated Ibiza house playlist, Kapara is too polished to be at all edgy. But it does succeed in creating a restaurant which is undisputedly playful, tasteful and fun. The portions were healthy sizes, there were plenty of vegan, veggie and flexy options, and the service (shout out to our girl Karina) was spot-on. And there’s no denying the food was delicious. The perfect starter for a proper Soho night out.
The vibe Naughty but nice. It’s giving birthday meal, it’s giving date night, it’s giving payday.
The food Modern Middle Eastern dishes with plenty of zing, smoke and bite.
The drink Properly good cocktails designed to get the party going.
Time Out tip? Don’t skip on the Katani: it’s a coffee, shot and dessert all rolled into one.