Polpo - A Venetian bàcaro in Soho, Covent Garden and Smithfield

Polpo at Wilderness Festival

POLPO is delighted to be joining Wilderness Festival this year to create a decadent Venetian banquet in the Oxfordshire countryside.

The festival will run from the 8^th to the 11^th of August and we will be hosting our banquet at lunch and dinner on Saturday 10th August.

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

About Polpo

The first Polpo opened on Beak Street in September 2009. It is a lovely and remarkable coincidence that the building was once home to the Venetian painter Canaletto. There is a blue plaque on the wall to commemorate this.

Polpo is a bàcaro. This is a Venetian word to describe a humble restaurant serving simple food and good, young local wines. When it first opened, this is what people said about it:

“Polpo is the hottest table in town”
– Marina O’Loughlin, METRO

“This is simply the best value in the West End”
– AA Gill, Sunday Times

“Brilliant”
– Jay Rayner, The Observer

“This one’s a winner for sure”
– David Sexton, Evening Standard

“It is inspiring when done this well’
– Rose Prince, Daily Telegraph

“One of the most exciting eateries to open in London”
– Richard Vines, Bloomberg

Polpo has received the Michelin Guide's Bib Gourmand for the last two consecutive years and was awarded 2 Rosettes in the AA Guide for Culinary Excellence 2012-2013

Covent Garden

Polpo Covent Garden
6 Maiden Lane
London WC2E 7NA
020 7836 8448

Click to see menus | wines | other drinks

Open:
Monday to Saturday:
Noon - 11.30pm
Sunday & Bank Holidays:
Noon - 10.30pm

Soho

Polpo Soho
41 Beak Street
London W1F 9SB
020 7734 4479

Click to see menus | wines | other drinks

Open:
Monday to Saturday:
Noon - 11pm
Sunday & Bank Holidays:
Noon - 4pm

Smithfield

Polpo Smithfield
3 Cowcross Street
London EC1M 6DR
020 7250 0034

Click to see menus | wines | other drinks

Open:
Monday to Saturday:
Noon - 11pm
Sunday & Bank Holidays:
Noon - 4pm

Reservations

Polpo is open all day. We take reservations for lunch but not in the evening. People often ask us why. Here is why:

At lunchtime, our restaurants are mostly business/meeting destinations. Most people come to meet friends or business contacts and need to know that they can have lunch at a specific time, get back to work, go shopping or pick the children up from school.

In the evening, it’s playtime. Things are a lot more relaxed, we turn the music up and the lights down and to preserve the essential informality of the Polpo experience, we don’t take bookings. You simply turn up and we sit you down, on arrival if we can, or shortly afterwards if all the tables are full.

Our bar seats, by the way, are always first-come, first-served. So even if we are fully booked at lunchtime, please do turn up for the (whisper it) best seats in the house.

(If you are a LARGE PARTY (8, 9 or 10) and you absolutely MUST have a reservation in the evening for you and your party, then please remember that Polpo Covent Garden and Polpo Smithfield do take bookings in the evening for large groups. Please call them directly or email our head office.)

Polpo Soho: 020 7734 4479
Polpo Covent Garden: 020 7836 8448
Polpo Smithfield: 020 7250 0034

CICHETI
Arancini	3
Potato & Parmesan crocchette	4
Anchovy & chickpea crostini	3
Fennel salami & radicchio grissini	3½
Baccala mantecato crostini	4
Grilled fennel & white anchovy	4
Cicheti plate (one of each)	10

PIZZETTE
Bianca	6
Chopped olive, white anchovy & basil	7
Spinach, Parmesan & soft egg	7½
Asparagus, taleggio, speck	8
Cured pork shoulder & pickled pepper	8

BREADS
Goat cheese & nettle pesto piadina	6
Broad bean, ricotta & mint bruschetta	7
Sardinian flatbread, lardo, walnuts
& cracked black pepper	7½
Grilled focaccia, olive oil	3

MEATBALLS
Classic beef & pork	6½
Spicy pork & fennel	6½
Lamb & mint	6½
Chick pea, spinach & ricotta	6
Meatballs & spaghettini	9
Piadina meatball smash	9½

FISH
Fritto misto	9½
Prawn & asparagus risotto	7½
Braised scallops, pancetta & peas	8
Linguine vongole	8
Chilli & garlic prawns	7

MEAT
Grilled lamb, caponata & basil	8½
Rabbit & chicory tonnata salad	7
Calf's liver, onions & sage	8
Sliced flank steak, porcini cream	9½
Buffalo plate: cured meats & mozzarella	14

VEGETABLES & SALADS
Whole mozzarella & broad beans	8
Zucchini, rocket, Parmesan	5
Fennel, almond & curly endive salad	5
Market greens	5
Roast new potatoes & rosemary	5

DESSERTS
Affogato al caffè	3½
Gelato cone	4
Flourless orange & almond cake	5½
Tiramisù pot	5½
Nutella pizzetta	6
Amalfi lemon & yoghurt fool	5½
Neal's Yard cheese of the day	8

SWEET THINGS
Chocolate salami	3
Ricotta crumble	3
A glass of Moscato Moncucco,
Fontanafredda 2010	4

Wine

House	1ltr	75cl	50cl	25cl
POLPO Bianco, Trebbiano 2011	23	17	12	6
POLPO Rosso, Sangiovese 2011	23	18	12	6

White		75cl	50cl	25cl

Sauvignon Blanc, Poeta 2011		20	13	7
Pinot Bianco, Valle 2011		21	14	7
Inzolia, Legato 2011		24	16	8
Pinot Grigio, Furlane 2011		26	17	9
Custoza, Monte del Frá 2011		28	19	10
Gavi di Gavi, Manenti 2011		31	21	11
Ribolla, Paolo Valle 2011		33	22	12
Sylvaner, Isarco 2011		34	-	-
Chardonnay, Antinori Bramito 2011		47	-	-
Soave Classico, 'La Rocca' Pieropan 2010		58	-	-


Pink		75cl	50cl	25cl
Chiaretto, Monte del Frá 2011		27	18	9

Red	75cl	50cl	25cl

Merlot, Valle 2011	20	13	7
Montepulciano, Fiori 2011	22	15	8
Barbera, Riva Leone 2011	25	17	9
Refosco, Ponte del Diavolo 2011	27	18	10
Rosso Piceno, Saladini 2010	28	19	10
Valpolicella Classico, La Giaretta 2011	31	20	11
Teroldego Riserva Mezzacorona 2009	36	24	12
Nero d'Avola, Tenuta di Fessina 2010	39	-	-
Dolcetto d’Alba, Priavino 2010	42	-	-
Chianti Classico, Isole e Olena 2009	59	-	-
Amarone Classico, La Giaretta 2008	67	-	-

(12½cl glass available)

Prosecco & Champagne	75cl	50cl	12½cl
"POLPO" Prosecco Brut, NV	30	20	6
Prosecco Col Vetoraz Extra Dry, 2010	38	-	-
Jacquesson Champagne Cuvée 735	66	-	-

Sweet		50cl	7½cl
Moscato Moncucco Fontanafredda 2010		27	4

Other Drinks

Beer

Birra Moretti (33cl)	4

Non Alcoholic Cocktails

MGM Elderflower, ginger beer, lemon	3
Rock Shandy Lemonade, fresh lime, angostura bitters	3

Minerals and Juice

Thirsty Planet Still or Sparkling (75cl)	3½
Pellegrino Bitter Orange/Lemon (33cl)	2½
Coke / Diet Coke (33cl)	3
San Bitter Dry / San Bitter Red / Crodino	3
Juices	2

Some Cocktails

Aperol or Campari Spritz Campari or Aperol, white wine, soda	6

Americano Campari, sweet vermouth, soda	6

Negroni Beefeater, Campari, sweet vermouth	7

Negroni Sbagliato Campari, sweet vermouth, Prosecco	7½

Vodka Mule Wyborowa, lime juice, ginger beer	7

Sweet Martini Beefeater, sweet vermouth, lemon twist	7

Amaro Manhattan Four Roses, Amaro Montenegro, orange bitters	7½

Cynar Gin Fizz Cynar, Beefeater, lemon juice & Prosecco	7

Dark & Stormy Havana Club, lime juice & ginger beer	7

Gin & Campari Old Fashioned Beefeater 24, Campari, grapefruit bitters & lemon zest	8

The Campari Bar

Each of our three restaurants has a basement bar. The bars are a great clandestine destination in their own right for drinks and a snack, or as a handy place to hang out while you are waiting for your friends to join you.

THE CAMPARI BAR
This is situated below the restaurant in the basement of Polpo Soho on Beak Street. The walls of exposed brick are peppered with original Campari advertisements from different eras of the twentieth century. A simple menu of hot and cold cichèti (Venetian bar snacks) is available along with a full cocktail and wine list. The Campari Bar is open from 5.30pm Monday to Saturday.

PRIVATE HIRE
Each of the three bars is available for exclusive hire at lunch, dinner or for drinks parties. Please speak to the managers who will be able to give you more details or enquire here.

Polpo Soho: 020 7734 4479
Polpo Covent Garden: 020 7836 8448
Polpo Smithfield: 020 7250 0034

The Aperol Bar

Each of our three restaurants has a basement bar. The bars are a great clandestine destination in their own right for drinks and a snack, or as a handy place to hang out while you are waiting for your friends to join you.

THE APEROL BAR
This is our airiest bar and, unusually for a basement, is blessed with daylight, thanks to a cunning double-height skylight pointing to the skies above Covent Garden. The full menu is available at all times and the Aperol Bar is host, once a month, to our popular wine club.

PRIVATE HIRE
Each of the three bars is available for exclusive hire at lunch, dinner or for drinks parties. Please speak to the managers who will be able to give you more details or enquire here.

Polpo Soho: 020 7734 4479
Polpo Covent Garden: 020 7836 8448
Polpo Smithfield: 020 7250 0034

The Negroni Bar

Each of our three restaurants has a basement bar. The bars are a great clandestine destination in their own right for drinks and a snack, or as a handy place to hang out while you are waiting for your friends to join you.

THE NEGRONI BAR
Beneath the Smithfield restaurant, past the glowing neon sign, you will find the Negroni Bar. The Victorian glazed walls (this was once a storage facility for the nearby meat market) and 120 year-old bar are the slightly naughty destination of many a Negroni connoisseur. Other drinks are available, as are tasty bar snacks, but it would be churlish to ignore the signs and order anything other than the perfect ménage-a-trois of gin, sweet vermouth and Campari.

PRIVATE HIRE
Each of the three bars is available for exclusive hire at lunch, dinner or for drinks parties. Please speak to the managers who will be able to give you more details or enquire here.

Polpo Soho: 020 7734 4479
Polpo Covent Garden: 020 7836 8448
Polpo Smithfield: 020 7250 0034

Eno Wine Club

"At a time when people's appetite for good food and good wine and knowledge of both are increasing, what better way to learn more about fine Italian wines than to pair the Venetian food offering at POLPO Covent Garden with the expertise of Wine Chap."

Season 4 of EnoClub (Season 4! Like a well-crafted HBO drama) keeps Italy as the focus but broadens the lens to include and contrast Italian winemakers and grapes who have journeyed from the Old Country. Just as Rome brought viticulture to the uncivilised Gauls over 2000 years ago, the influence of their descendants around the world is considerable.

At EnoClub you will sample 6 to 7 wines, an Aperol spritz will be served on arrival and there will be a select menu of food served which will match the wines tasted that evening.

To book a place at any of the EnoClub evenings please call the restaurant on 020 7836 8448 and quote WINECHAP.

When: Tuesday 18th June 2013, 7:00-9:30pm
Where: POLPO Covent Garden | 6 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7NA
Price: £45 pp

El Capo & The Cape

£ for £ there are no better value, more satisfying wines from the New World than from The Western Cape, and in the last decade and a half diversity at the premium end has increased significantly. Tonight we'll compare a few favourites with some warmer climate classics from Italy.

Book

POLPO - A Venetian Cookbook (Of Sorts) is published by Bloomsbury and includes 140 recipes from the restaurant accompanied by luminescent photography by Jenny Zarins.

It chronicles Russell Norman's inspiration for the restaurants and his culinary journey to Venice's back-street wine bars and bacari in search of the authentic flavours of the city and region.

It was awarded Waterstones Book of the Year 2012.

Look at it and buy it here or in our restaurants.

Little Film

There is a little film, too, to tell you about the book:

Our Friends

Our Charities

We are currently contributing to Great Ormond Street Hospital, NSPCC, Water Aid, Amnesty, Venice In Peril, Action Against Hunger and Street Smart.

Our founders, Russell and Richard, are running the Venice Marathon this year for Great Ormond Street Hospital. You can read about it and sponsor Russell and Richard here.

Employment

We are always looking for great people for all our restaurants. Please email us here with your CV for employment opportunities. We like these three qualities:

Very good attitude and a big smile
Very good command of spoken English
Some experience (but not essential)

Alternatively, pop into one of the restuarants and drop off your CV with one of the managers.

Currently recruiting for our latest venture: The Ape & Bird Public House

We're looking for a HEAD CHEF & SENIOR SOUS CHEF to lead our back of house team at The Ape & Bird Public House, due to open in October this year.

The pub is located on the corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and West Street overlooking Cambridge Circus.

The 5000 square foot pub, restaurant and bar will marry traditional pub values with great craft beer, familiar comfort cooking and meticulously sympathetic design and interiors. The pub is laid out over three floors and has dining capacity for 120.

The kitchen will offer an eclectic menu of pub classics along with hearty regional British nursery dishes and some classics and favourites from beyond the UK. Expect Oysters, Scotch Egg with Celeriac Fries, Devilled Kidneys on Toast, Blood Pudding Hash, Sprouts & Soft-boiled Egg, Mince & Dumplings, Whole Poached Trout with Cobnuts & Watercress, Panhaggarty and a different pie for every day of the week.

ESSENTIAL from all applicants:
• Experience as head chef/sous chef in a busy West End kitchen
• Previous experience managing staff
• Excellent track record of hitting operational targets
• Fluent spoken and written English
• Good references and all necessary documentation

If you are motivated, dynamic, have relevant experience and want to join an exciting and expanding team, please send us your CV for an immediate interview.