Looking into the restaurant from the entrance on Kingly Street
What do we need to know about The Counter?
This is the second restaurant for chef patron Kemal Demirasal who's already received glowing reviews for his Notting Hill venture of the same name. Kemal grew up on the seaside in Turkey so the food here is a mix of Mediterranean and Levantine cooking.
Where is it?
You'll find it on Kingly Street in the heart of Carnaby (it's taken over the place that used to be Jinjuu). So the nearest tube for that is Oxford Circus.
Is there a good place to meet for drinks nearby?
It's equidistant from two good pubs, the Windmill and the Sun and 13 Cantons, and Antidote is nearby if you're after a quality glass of wine. But given that they have their own bar, Under The Counter, why not start there?
The rather lovely looking Under The Counter bar underneath the restaurant
That's a listening and cocktail bar (if you're not down with the terminology it means they've got quite the sound system with a selection of great vinyl playing). The drinks down here draw inspiration from the same place as the restaurant so you'll find a decent selection of ouzo, raki and arak. It also places emphasis on Japanese whisky on its drinks list.
Cocktails are pretty decently priced for Soho with house options all at £12 and classic cocktails at £13.
Where should we sit?
There are actually quite a lot of options here. We ended up on a square communal table as you come in which has room for six diners, but there's also another large group table towards the rear and then a mix of tables for two along the side and rear of the dining room.
And what's on the menu?
It's your traditional sharing plates menu with sections and prices loosely showing you what might be considered a starter or main dish. Here's what we had to give you a flavour.
Whipped tarama with salmon roe and sumac (£9) - you'll definitely want to order the bread to make the most of this even though it comes with crackers.
Gently marinated tuna with tomato pulp, cherry, avocado and lumpfish roe (£18) - when the waiter asks if you want him to mix this up, say yes as it turns out to be a real bit of tabletop theatre.
White chocolate babaganoush (£10) - yes that's not a typo. Very much one of the dishes that made The Counter's name when it opened in West London, this is one of those dishes that'll probably divide the table with half loving it and the other half declaring it an affront to good taste.
Saffron, tomato and crab orzo (£20) -A rich dish, but one that could have gone a little heavier on the crab
Adana kebab with chopped salad, pomegranate molasses, isot pepper and wrapped in lavash (£22) - very much a gussied-up take on a kebab, but still delicious despite the refinement.
Levantine chicken - a bowl of grilled chicken thigh, grilled lettuce and yogurt dressing (£22) - perhaps the one dish we didn't think was great value for the price and the amount of chicken in there.
Room for dessert?
There are just three on offer, but we'd made quite a dent in the menu so far and opted for the cheesecake. Next time that sage-infused burnt rice pudding is calling out to us.
Baklava cheesecake with pistachio cream (£12). You can also have a larger version of this suitable for a big group that costs £40.
Overall thoughts:
We can't ignore the elephant in the room which is the excoriating review The Counter got in The Standard just days after our visit. All we can say is that restaurants just like anyone else have off days and we didn't think it merited such a low rating based on our own visit. Of course, experiences can occasionally differ wildly, and we do appear to have tried mostly different dishes to their critic. As for us? We thought it was a buzzy, cheerful place with plenty on the menu to warrant a visit.
More about The Counter Soho
Where is it? 15 Kingly Street, Carnaby, London W1B 5PS
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @thecounterlondon.
Hot Dinners dined as guests of The Counter. Prices correct at time of publication.
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