Kapara is a restaurant from Eran Tibi who has cheffed with liberal North London’s favourite chef Ottolenghi and runs Bala Baya, so you know what to expect. Mostly Eastern Mediterranean dishes, packed with flavour and bang on trend

You probably also expect a fair bit of campness and a sexy-playfulness vibe, and you get that too, quite a bit of it, but that’s all part of the fun. I’m told it was a lot more ‘in your face’ a while back but has since toned down. That said, the tiles in the lavatory may come as a bit of a shock when you see them, I won’t spoil the surprise.

Based under the new Ilona Rose House at Tottenham Court Road, it’s accessed from either the station side, or discreetly from Greek Street, and is in a cute courtyard (James Court) that is very Soho in its sneaky hideawayness. There are covered tables outside, too,

Inside there’s a lot of pink. So much so I thought S sitting opposite me had been on an exotic holiday, he positively glowed in the reflected light. The decor is sharp and clean, tables easy to wipe down and they need to be. I managed to turn most of my side into a Jackson Pollock artwork.

That’s because I was soon snatching greedily at every dish as they were all so good. Making it easy on ourselves we’d chosen the sharing menu, although with this kind of small plate/large plate menu you share anyway. This is definitely a place to come mob-handed to make sure you get a bit of everything on offer.

The dishes come out, as we were warned, in groups of three and that suited us. Aubergine Mess- blackened aubergine, oregano, tahini, pomegranate molasses, lychee was delicious with the aubergine smoked from the grill and creamed to smooth perfection. The contrast with the nutty tahini and the sharp molasses perfect.

We scooped it up with Twisted Jerusalem Bagel crusted with sesame seeds. This came with clementine and smoked herb butter, but I wondered why. The bagel would have been enjoyed first with this butter which got lost with the other dishes, that included a brilliant room temp hummus, one of the best I’ve had for a long time perhaps due to the aubergine addition as well as zhoug. The deep fried puffed up chickpeas on top were the icing on the cake, and it was all eaten with pillowy fresh baked pitas kept snugly warm in a paper bag.

Excellent too was beetroot cured salmon with quince, pickles, gremolata, lemon preserve, and even caviar. The salmon was thickly cut, which we liked, and the quince and lemon gave a sharp kick against the earthier flavours of the beetroot. 

The next three dishes were also well received –  Roasted roots heritage carrots, carrot puree, crispy shawarma tofu, carrot wafers was remarkable, carrots taken to a new level (as Jamie would say) while Carmel Market Greens salad bitter leaves, kohlrabi, sprouts, za’atar croutons, pecorino and crisp apple was also great but in the wrong place. More later.

Jerusalem Artichoke shawarma rub, labneh, harissa, rose made this underused vegetable sing. The harissa is nicely hot, the labneh unctuous, although the rose water was rather intrusive and could have been cut back a bit. 

Jerusalem Artichokes are well known for their effects on digestion though and these certainly caused me some embarrassment for hours afterwards.

I quote the English botanist John Goodyer on Jerusalem artichokes:

“which way soever they be dressed and eaten, they stir and cause a filthy loathsome stinking wind within the body, thereby causing the belly to be pained and tormented, and are a meat more fit for swine than men.”

So be warned, this is not a dish for a first date.

And then the Braised Monkfish Shank, basically a huge monkfish tail, mussels, clams, tomatoes, peppers, chickpeas, coriander all in a spicy broth. This was superb,  but it should never have been served at the same time as the three mezzes. This needed to be brought out triumphantly after the table was cleared. After all, who eats salad with a stew?

And it needed something to gather all that lovely broth. I would have said a big pile of fluffy cous cous might have been ideal. Or just give diners a straw, because leaving that lovely broth behind was sacrilege. We asked for some more pitta to dunk in the bowl, which kind of worked but was not ideal. A brilliant dish otherwise.

This all left us pretty full so we shared a dessert, a semi-saucy/risque  number called Gramps’ Cigar.  Brick is a thin, lacy pastry from Ottoman cuisine and here it was rolled around a smooth pistachio cream centre and set in a puddle of  passion fruit curd. A very rich dessert, as Middle Eastern desserts tend to be. We couldn’t quite eat it all, which was a shame.

This by the way was a lunch time which I don’t think is perhaps the best time to try this restaurant, the night is when it really comes alive and on a summer’s evening lounging in that outside courtyard, eating this excellent food will be absolutelt heavenly, darling.

See, they got me doing it too.

Many dishes are naturally vegetarian, some are also vegan and gluten free

14 Greek St, James Court, London W1D 4AL, United Kingdom