Last Updated on April 24, 2023
A great value lunch offer in swanky Soho
Having reviewed dinner at YOPO last winter, I was curious to revisit this atmospheric restaurant during daylight to see if the magical atmosphere persists throughout the day. When one has enjoyed a meal previously, a return visit is always a pleasure. Situated in The Mandrake Hotel Soho, a boutique hotel that exudes sexy sensuality from its artwork to its soft furnishings, YOPO is always a fun venue for a good time with friends. On a Saturday lunchtime, the spacious restaurant was attracting people doing just that. At £22 a head for 2 courses and £25 for 3 courses including a glass of Veuve Clicquot Brut Champagne, lunch at Yopo must surely be one of the best meal deals in Soho, not to mention in a stylishly OTT environment that is pure fun.
Yopo transports guests to a world away from the city outside. Part jungle, part art gallery, part installation, Yopo is filled with exotic plants – some in pots, others painted onto the ceiling – flowers, art, books, sofas and other pieces of furniture sourced around the world. The unique ceiling is painted by Peter-John de Villiers and includes mystical beings, jungle fauna, and enormous butterflies. A life-size sculpture, Showgirl, created by Marco Tullio Siviglia, takes centre stage – imagine an ostrich combined with a snake. A glass wall opens onto the internal courtyard with its two huge palm trees and then onto the glass-walled bar. It was too chilly to make use of the terrace for lunch, but in the summer this must be a wonderfully airy space.
The Yopo menu is South American in influence and the Veuve Clicquot set lunch menu has some of the starters and desserts from the a la carte selection with a different set of mains. Overall, there is a choice of three dishes for each of starter, main and dessert. This includes a vegetarian option and there is a vegan main course as well as a dessert. The menu also offers some add-on extras – oysters and sourdough, and two side dishes. Obviously, this will edge your bill up above £25 but even if you added in two oysters and a side dish and shared the lovely sourdough, you would still have change from £50. If you stick to the offer you will not leave hungry. Portions are good and, since we added in the extras for the sake of the review, I can say that I was overly full at the end of the lunch.
Having managed to get off at the incorrect tube station – even Londoners make these errors – I arrived at Yopo a bit late and sweaty, having had an unexpected and very brisk 20-minute walk across town. I went to freshen up in the ladies which I must mention as the washbasin area is one of the classiest and sexiest bathrooms I have ever seen in a hotel. On my return to the table, the Veuve Clicquot arrived and a couple of sips was enough to smooth out the rough edges on my arrival.
I recalled how lovely the staff were from my last visit and was impressed to find that our server was in attendance which says something positive about staff retention.
Yopo serves delicious Ostra Regal (Conche de Bannow, Ireland) oysters. These are small in size but big on flavour and are served with a small bowl of Champagne Granita and lime which makes an interesting taste and texture variation. Seeded wholemeal sourdough is served warm alongside a peppery extra virgin olive oil and South Downs butter. There is nothing, in my view, that gets a meal off to a better start than a couple of oysters.
From the starter options we chose josper grilled leeks, burrata and hazelnuts as well as yellowtail, plantain and aji tiradito. Four baby leeks were served warm and were meltingly tender with a good grilled flavour. The creamy burrata and the toasted, chopped hazelnuts made an interesting textural contrast for this tasty dish. I recalled eating this attractive yellowtail dish during my last visit and it was memorable enough to reorder. Tiradito is a Peruvian raw fish dish that is dressed just before eating unlike ceviche which is marinated. Six slices of yellowtail had a delicate sweetness and served with a pile of plantain chips and a spicy aji – a green hot sauce – served as an artistic pool. It was almost too lovely to disturb.
For main course my husband chose pork belly with lentils and black mole. As the mole is coloured with squid ink to which I am allergic I did not taste the dish. It looked appetising served in a flat copper dish on a bed of lentils and mole. It was topped with fiery grilled green peppers and served with a dish of mini tortillas.
I ate buttermilk fried chicken with rocket and parmesan. The crumbed and deep fried chicken breast had a good crunchy batter enveloping the moist chicken breast within. It perched on a creamy Parmesan sauce and was garnished with rocket leaves and shavings of Parmesan. It was both tasty and filling.
A green salad dressed with guacatillo was excellent. The greens were a mixture of watercress and other interesting leaves and I would love the recipe for the dressing. Guacatillo is a Mexican salso that combines avocado with tomatillo amongst other ingredients. It was one of the best side salads I have had in a while and looked pretty with yellow flowers. A side of house fries with chipotle aioli was such a generous portion that we were unable to finish it.
For dessert my husband had mezcal granita, coconut and tepeche. I began to think he was choosing his dishes according to my allergies so he would not have to share as tepeche is a fermented beverage made from the peel and rind of a pineapple, the only fruit to which I am allergic. The granita was topped with small pieces of fresh pineapple, gooseberry and toasted coconut. A lovely tropical dessert with the added attraction of flower petals.
I chose white chocolate alfajore with guava and Dulce de Leche. Alfajore is a traditional confection made with flour, honey and nuts. Here, two alfajores biscuits were covered with white chocolate, sandwiched together with a guava puree and Dulce de Leche, and topped with passion fruit. Despite the sugar content it managed not to be too sweet.
The Veuve Clicquot Set Lunch Menu offers excellent value and is thankfully not time limited. It is now a feature of the lunch offer at Yopo from Wednesday to Saturday, from 12.00 to 15.00 for up to six people per table. A 15% service charge is added to the bill. It makes for a fun few hours in central London whether during a midweek lunch break or day in town or a lazy Saturday introduction to the weekend. Yopo offers a sensual dining experience where an inventive menu meets interesting artwork in a relaxed environment.
Yopo offer is ongoing.
MANDRAKE HOTEL,
20-21 Newman Street,
London W1T 1PG
Leave a Reply